Anna Kennedy OBE
Anna Kennedy OBE is the founder of Anna Kennedy Online, a small charity with a big heart that raises Autism Awareness like no other mainstream charity. Anna is passionate about rai...
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What is Autism?
What is autism? That is a question that I find really difficult to answer because everyone is so different from each other. Living with my husband and my two sons, they're all so different from each other, and I've met hundreds and hundreds of people on the autism spectrum, and they do have difficulties with social interaction. They do have difficulties, or they can have difficulties with communication and also seeing it from your perspective. So it's a very, very difficult question to answer.
Are there different types of autism?
Autism is a spectrum condition. Again, everyone is so very different. If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism. But a lot of people who were diagnosed on the autumn spectrum also have overlapping conditions. So it could be that they may have dyslexia, they may have OCD, they may have dyspraxia, they may have dyscalculia, and they may have mental health issues as well, because it could be that they haven't been supported since a child or whatever it is that they've been going through.
Can autism be treated?
I'm not quite sure if autism can be treated. I think it's the way that you work with children and adults who are autistic. So say for example, at the school that I set up, speech and language therapy is key. Occupational therapy is key. Drama, music, therapy. They're fantastic ways of supporting a young person and also for them to talk about what they find difficult. So for example, like drama therapy, we had a young man that just couldn't express himself and just was having real behaviour problems. But then by acting, by being a character that wasn't him, we were able to tap in to how he was feeling and what was really bothering him.