Its going to be a funny old Christmas. Half the world is in financial meltdown, the other half in social and political turmoil. I don't know about you but it just doesn't seem right to me to buy lots of presents this year for people who just don't need anything.

One group of people who really do need something this year is children with autism. Many of them are in desperate need of something as simple as an appropriate education. You have no idea how hard it can be to educate a child who has zero interest in anything apparently normal - toys, dressing up, painting, singing, role play....other people. It requires intensive, highly skilled, one to one teaching which is slow, repetitive and totally bespoke for each child.

Without this sort of education there are many parents who, every Christmas, will be looking at a pile of unopened presents well into the New Year. They remain unopened because their child has no interest in finding out what's inside the parcel.....although he was probably obsessed by staring at the shiny gold paper for a few days. We know this because we were those parents a few years ago.

Fortunately Rufus is now the archetypal excited kid at Christmas, waking up way too early, ripping open his presents in a nanosecond and making himself sick on chocolate. We are also amazingly lucky that he has progressed so much that he can now hold his own in a mainstream school. He is even starting to make the first slow steps towards having a few friends.

All of this is because of his early, intensive education. Without it, we would be dreading the future in general and this Christmas in particular. Treehouse provides exactly the kind of education Rufus has had, but in a school setting. It was set up by a group of enlightened parents and is still, many years on, the most cutting edge organisation of its kind in the UK. It works incredibly hard to help children aquire the skills and interests they need to have a better, more fullfilled life. And to enjoy Christmas.

I'm not suggesting you don't give your family any presents this year (imagine the outrage!) but, if you were thinking of buying one for us or our children, it would be fantastic if you could make a donation to Treehouse instead. In fact, any amount, from any of you would be hugely appreciated. The minimum donation is £2.