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After the amazing feeling of running the New York City marathon in November I’ve decided to go for one more, massive challenge - 2 marathons in 2 weeks! I’ll be running Paris on 14th April 2019 and then London on 28th April 2019! 

This is going to be my last, big fundraising push and I think it’s a really special one!

I'll be doing all of this to support The National Autistic Society and as part of that I'm going to be setting up an advocacy platform - Running with Autism - to share my story, get people motivated and to raise awareness of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD's).

Why me and why National Autistic Society?

Simple!  I have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.  In my case I was diagnosed in my mid 20's as having 'High Functioning Autism', more commonly known as Aspergers Syndrome.  I had long suspected that my brain was little bit different to most other people and that I found some 'simple' things excruciatingly difficult.  My teens and early to mid twenties were punctuated by periods of severe depression, anxiety and left me very close to suicide, all of which came from my as-yet undiagnosed condition.  It also caused many problems at school, university and even in the workplace.

Receiving my diagnosis was a complete life changer.  It allowed me to understand myself better and to obtain the correct therapy.  It gave me validation for the things I couldn't do, but also an explanation for some of the surprising things that I could do.  Above all, it also gave my wife, Penny, the ability to understand me better.

Finally, after 6 years of periodic CBT, counselling and medication I am now in a place where I can accept myself and live happily in my head.  It's taken a lot of pain and effort to achieve this but the future has never, ever looked better for me.  I can't thank all the people who have helped me reach this point enough.  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

This journey has left me wondering 'what if?'...  What if I had been diagnosed earlier?  What if after my diagnosis I had more guidance about what was possible?  What if we lived in a society that actually understood the autistic spectrum and how many people struggle simply to walk around the supermarket?

And that's where Running with Autism comes in!  I want to use it as a platform to contact young people, schools and workplaces and advocate for better diagnosis, greater understanding and most of all to allow people to see that having an ASD my create some limitations but it also gives so much opportunity for success if you can simply accept yourself and push yourself every day.  I'd love for neuro-typical people to better understand the phrase 'autism' and discover it comes in so many shapes and sizes, all of which can be incredibly difficult and painful for someone lacking the right support.

My aspirations tie-in with The National Autistic Society.  All my fundraising between now and November will focus on smashing the target set for me by the charity but after that I'm going to keep on going, keep on running, keep on pushing and keep on fundraising for this worthy cause.  

Keep on... Until Everyone Understands.

www.runningwithautism.net

www.autism.org.uk

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