For those of you who don’t know, our nephew (James Tury – 3 years old) has been diagnosed with Autism a complex lifelong disability with wide ranging symptoms and impacts which does not yet have a proven cure. http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction.aspx. James is Simon and Sonya’s son (Simon is Michaela’s brother).

Over the past year James has undergone, as a result of very generous family support, both one on one and group private “early intervention” treatment. Funding for this is extremely costly and there is insufficient support available from the government - private healthcare does not cover any of his treatment. Simon and Sonya have been informed that James needs as much weekly intense therapy as possible and that up until the age of 4 the brain is most receptive - so clearly we have to do all we can now.

From this intervention Simon and Sonya have already begun to notice some improvements, although progress is slow. We hope and pray that James continues to progress. With treatment, James has a greater opportunity to lead a relatively “normal life”, although realistically it is too early to say what the future holds for him.  His treatment has recently been increased as Simon and Sonya are aware there is less than a year until his fourth birthday and they wish to gain the maximum benefit from the early intervention programme developed for him.

Given that such continuous treatment is extremely costly Simon and Sonya have planned a family and friends 10k sponsorship run in Regents on both Sunday 5 July 26 July -  don’t be surprised but yes we will be taking part! There is a registered charity called Conquer and Learn (“C&L” - http://www.conquerandlearn.org.uk/) that seeks to help young children with autism and other related conditions. C&L aims to support the early intervention centre that James has been attending for therapy.

Anyway, enough background... PLEASE SPONSOR US! You will be showing huge support to us, Simon, Sonya, Conquer & Learn and most importantly James.

Thank you so much
David and Michaela