World Autism Awareness Week is back from 29 March to 4 April 2021. Autism is a lifelong disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. There are approximately 700,000 autistic people in the UK, and only 16 per cent of autistic adults are in full-time employment.
The coronavirus pandemic has been particularly tough for many autistic people and their families. Services have closed and many people have been left stranded. The ever-changing guidelines and restrictions can be confusing to understand and extremely difficult to implement for autistic people with high support needs.
Thanks to our supporters, we've been able to campaign to ensure autistic people's needs are taken into account by governments across the UK in these challenging times. Autistic people have been included in mask exemptions and have been given more opportunities to exercise.
We've developed online resources for autistic people and increased the number of online social groups we run. There is still so much to do and we desperately need your help to continue this vital work.