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I’ve got two boys, Robin who’s five and has got a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder,
and Matthew who’s eight who has a diagnosis of Severe Classical Autism. The reason that
we first came to the University was because we’d heard about Joe’s research project
through a friend and at the time I had strong suspicions that Robin was on the autistic
spectrum. His play was really non-existent. I mean it was very kind of functional. It
was things like opening and shutting doors and really he didn’t have any kind of interactive
play skills.
Early assessment and early intervention is incredibly important for children on the autism
spectrum. They experience difficulties throughout their lifespan and we can greatly improve
their quality of life and their opportunities.
Now Robin attends a mainstream school. He has got an integration assistant who’s absolutely
fabulous and he’s thriving. He loves school, he’s actually got a little group of friends
which I never really could hope for anything better for him really. The work that the team
here at the University did with my son Robin was so beneficial and I would encourage anybody
to give as much money as they could afford to the University to carry on this research
so that other families can benefit and have the quality of experience that we have received.
Thank you very much.