A diagnosis of autism is pretty devastating for a parent. Even if you know that your child is not quite right, many of your hopes and expectations are shattered.

When our daughter Daisy was formally diagnosed two years ago we knew very little about the autistic spectrum – other than typical and unhelpful clichés derived from films like Rain Man. A very good friend told us to go to the charity “Peach” and implement an ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) programme for her as soon as possible.

Autism is a spectrum and some children are worse than others. Fortunately Daisy’s autism is not severe, although she does have to contend with Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) and mild learning difficulties.

Peach is a charity that advocates early intervention - the younger the child, the more you can do to help them. Parents are allocated a case manager who regularly oversees a tailor-made programme to change behaviour – whether it’s to decrease obsessive or repetitive behaviour, develop social skills or to learn to play - which is carried out by a tutor.

There is a lot of negative feeling about ABA among the educational establishment because it is so intensive - most programmes are 30-40 hours a week. But for parents who are desperate to be able to communicate with their children, who want to normalise behaviour and for their children to be able to lead some sort of meaningful life, it is a lifeline.

We met and saw some incredible children through Peach and the most inspiring case managers and tutors who worked with these children. We also met desperate and distressed parents of older children who had not received any help when they were young and are really struggling to cope as they grow older.

Cases of autism are increasing, probably because diagnosis is so much better today and children are not left to cope without help (we've all met people from older generations who can't make eye contact or whose behaviour is eccentric, odd or anti-social). However, the stigma surrounding autism still exists and both Sophs and I feel very strongly that it needs to be broken down to help children and their families. 

Daisy now is a different child. There is still a long way to go but she has improved so much. Her repetitive speech has almost stopped, she spends significantly less time in her own world and she has meaningful friends at school. Now things matter to her, she gets upset and she cares. This can make life more complicated but it's so much better than being completely ambivalent about everything. 

There is no way of knowing what she would be like now without intervention but it’s likely her symptoms would get increasingly severe and continue to impede her life and distance her from society as she got older.

We couldn’t have done any of this without Peach.

If you would be kind enough to help me to raise money for Peach, please support my efforts at the Blenheim Triathlon.

Thank you, so much.

Damian.

PS – I am entirely confident that this is the only time in my life that I will come begging for charity, so please treat this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.