Hi, I'm Eugene and I have been lucky enough to secure a charity place on the London Marathon through the Together Trust.

I'm running for Inscape House and to raise awareness of Autism as a hidden disability.

A few months ago we had an Autism diagnosis for our 7 year old son. It never changed our lives, he's still our boy, but it did raise my awareness of the lack of knowledge and understanding people have.

If you can't see it and it's not obvious then how can it be real?

The barriers and challenges are very real for our son. He has a great sense of humour, he is funny, the life and sole of a party and articulate! He has a heightened sense of touch, sound and smell and a love and need for movement. Amazing qualities that when connected together in the right environment can be supercharged! When they clash can be explosive!

We navigate through life with our 2 daughters and a neurotic Border Collie, hoping to instill and build a little bit of knowledge, understanding, acceptance and adjustments from those around us. Not always getting it right.

It's been a 3 year battle to finally move our son from an environment where he has experienced school based trauma. Square peg, round hole...sound familiar? It's never going to happen!

After many months of toing and frowing we finally managed to move him into a smaller school that has unconditional positive regard.

He now experiences *the best days of his life*, *its fun all the time*. A school that clearly nurtures neurodiversity in all its glorious colours.

My wife works at Inscape and it was their encouragement, advice, expertise and support that enabled us to come as far as we have.

The staff at Inscape do an amazing job to break down barriers for all the young people. Always going above and beyond. As a community the school provides a listening ear, promotes self advocacy and breaks down barriers to learning. The experiences of the students and staff are valued.

Together, we need to break down stereotypes and challenge misconceptions about what autistic people can and can’t do. This begins with greater understanding and awareness of what autism is, and Inscape do this seamlessly.

I run for all children with a diagnosis of autism, for those children who don't 'look autistic', who you 'can't tell', or you 'wouldn't know' and I say to those around open your eyes, make a little change adjust your perception to the world and watch the light begin to shine through......

Please just give 😊