<p>My son, Emeka, is like many other boys his age. He loves building race tracks and making his toy cars jump off ramps, and is great at flying a virtual plane around a tropical island on the Nintendo Wii. When I bake his favourite orange, almond and cinnamon biscuits as soon as I turn my back a few disappear from the tray like magic.</p> <p>However, my son is not like many children in one respect: he is autistic. This means that some areas like communication or social interaction are very difficult for him. We live in a loud, busy and unpredictable world with many people. This is a very difficult world for most autists.</p> <p>I'm running the Reading half-marathon to raise money for Autistica, a charity which funds medical research to improve the diagnosis of, develop treatments for, and discover the causes of autism. This is still a condition which is poorly understood and often diagnosed late, and it's believed it could affect over 500,000 people in the UK. This will be the first race I have run for over twenty years, and from my memory I barely finished any of them at the school sports day.</p> <p>Please donate to help me raise money for a good cause and complete my first ever half-marathon. My company, Infineum, will match every donation up to &pound;250 so your generosity has twice the benefit.</p> <p>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving &ndash; they&rsquo;ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they&rsquo;ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.</p>