On the 21st of October 2018 I will be running the Great South Run, in order to raise money towards Bobby, my step son’s, therapy.

Bobby is six years old and has autism and is unable to speak or communicate effectively. This impacts all areas of his life and has left him angry and frustrated. With around 70,000 people in the UK on the spectrum, autism effects over 1 in 100 people. Stretched resources and cuts to funding have made it impossible for us to access regular therapy on the NHS.

Bobby started private communication therapy almost 18 months ago and progressed with using picture exchange cards to sometimes communicate. However, NHS speech and language therapy was only delivered for two half an hour sessions over the past year. Bobby’s inability to communicate and access the world has caused aggressive and violent behaviours to arise. This means Bobby is restricted to being mainly housebound outside of school hours.

After hours of research and a suggestion from our private communication therapist, a decision was made to start him with ABA therapy.

In America, all children with a diagnosis are given ABA therapy through the insurance - in the UK ABA therapy is not accessible unless paid for privately. ABA therapy will use techniques to adjust Bobby’s aggressive behaviours and teach him how to communicate. With success, Bobby will be able to access the outdoors again and have a childhood. It will also ensure that has he grows bigger and stronger he will be able to remain at home with us.

ABA therapy costs £75 per hour (+VAT) consultancy fee for 6 hours a month, plus £50 per hour tutoring fee, of which Bobby’s programme requires 30 hours of tuition a week. Having paid £1000 to be trained ourselves, we are hoping to deliver the majority of the tuition, however this therapy will cost approximately £600 per month, being guided by the ABA consultant and occasional tutoring.

To find out more and follow Bobby’s progress, please visit https://bit.ly/2NzeDbf