Autism Acceptance: The Big Issues – part one.

(With the Autistic Advocate, Kieran Rose, our own Family Development Manager Kerrie Highcock and guest David Jones, Community Liaison Manager from Newcastle’s Life Science Centre.) The trio begin their #autismacceptance discussion charting how they’ve come to be working together, transitioning from passive awareness of autism to moving together towards autism acceptance. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ As part of Autism Awareness Acceptance week 2020 (March 30 – April 5) we hosted a panel discussion with the Autistic Advocate, Kieran Rose, our own Family Development Manager Kerrie Highcock and guest David Jones, from Newcastle’s Centre for Life. Kieran, a prolific public speaker and leader in autism advocacy has helped shape and inform how we as the North East Autism Society have framed our approach to autism awareness – and now co-leads our autism and neurodiversity think tank. Kerrie leads our pioneering youth services where we seek to empower and give a voice to platform to young autistic voices. David Jones has worked with Kerrie in his role as Community Liaison Manager to create inclusive environments within the science centre for the north of England, Life Science Centre. New to the world of autism acceptance David shares his insights from listening, learning and seeing the tangible impact this has made directly. The trio will explore cultural issues surrounding autism, the importance of accurate statistics, why acceptance is so important and the impact this can have positively on businesses, and crucially for autistic and neurodivergent people themselves.