This month marks what would have been Ciaran’s 30th Birthday, a milestone many of us take for granted and one Ciaran will heartbreakingly never see. Not a day goes by when we don’t miss him terribly and think of how his life could have been so very different.

In his memory we would like to ask for you to help us to raise as much money as we can for Autistica, the UK’s leading autism research and campaigning charity. They are currently undertaking a research project around autism and addiction, the first step towards evoking change in the social care system and implementing greater autism-led support services for those suffering with addiction.

Ciaran suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Like many other young people with Asperger’s Syndrome, Ciaran saw the world differently and at times struggled to cope with everyday life. Ciaran found it difficult to relate to others socially, social situations or big occasions made him feel incredibly stressed and anxious.

Like many young adults, particularly those with autism, Ciaran turned to drugs to mask his autistic characteristics, he found drugs helped him to fit in, gave him confidence and relieved his overwhelming feelings of anxiety. But as a vulnerable young adult it wasn’t long before what started as a cannabis habit for Ciaran, spiralled into a more serious drug addiction. We lost Ciaran on November 5, 2021.

The word drug addict carries so many negative connotations and as a society we show little empathy or willingness to help those with addiction but do any of us stop to think of the person behind the addict? Ciaran wasn’t just an addict, he was a loving son, brother and uncle. He was intelligent, ambitious and had an incredible sense of humour. Ciaran just lost his way trying to navigate through, what can be an incredibly challenging world for someone with autism. And he’s not the only one, research has shown people suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorders are more likely to develop an addiction to drugs as they often turn to drugs to help them feel less anxious in social situations and use or become reliant on drugs to ‘fit in’.

Frequent and prolonged use of drugs leads to addiction particularly in autistic adults as one of the characteristics of their condition means they have a need for routine and repetitiveness. This rigid and repetitive thinking pattern is not only what makes people like Ciaran more susceptible to addiction, but it also makes the addiction much more difficult to treat as it becomes embedded into their day-to-day life and routine.

Services for people with drug and alcohol problems are often not designed or delivered to meet the needs of autistic adults and research has found this to be one of the reasons autistic adults are less likely to seek help for addiction. Drug and alcohol service providers have reported they have received no specific training or support focused on autism. As such service providers believe treatment outcomes for those with autism are likely to be worse than those of non-autistic clients.

We as a family tried and failed on many occasions to help Ciaran with his addiction but we never knew where to turn for support as traditional drug support services were not suitable for Ciaran and we feel his access to such services often exasperated his anxiety and in turn his addiction.

We strongly believe there is a need for addiction services designed to meet the needs of autistic adults. Drug and Alcohol service providers need greater training around autism, there needs to be greater research into creating autism-specific treatment plans for those suffering from addiction and autism-led treatment centres. Our goal is to raise money to increase awareness about the link between autism and addiction and improve access to addiction services for autistic adults like Ciaran. In doing so, we believe we can prevent others from suffering the crippling addiction Ciaran did and another family from going through what we have.

It would really mean a lot to us as a family, if you could donate as much or as little as you can afford and help us create a lasting legacy in Ciaran’s memory.