Supporting Statement I read at my interview.

I have written this in case my responses to your questions become lost in my labyrinthine, autistic, rainbow head.

You say the NAS actively encourages people with autism to apply to work for them. It is my sincere hope you will seriously consider my application today. You will never regret it. I have a great deal of understanding and compassion for those on the autistic spectrum. I promise you today that my commitment will be both to your amazing organisation and those you seek to serve.

I am an individual with the strength of character, integrity and tenacity to overcome the kind of hurdles and prejudices, personal difficulties and misunderstanding that nobody should have to live with. I am not the kind of person to go the extra mile, but one who will go as many miles as it takes to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

Being a university student opened many doors for me. One of the most memorable was attending the National Autistic Society 2008 International Conference. It showed me the direction my life and career should be taking, which is to work with and for the National Autistic Society. Only one of the main stage speakers, Stephen Shore, was on the autism spectrum. I would like to add to that number. To steal one of your campaign titles, don’t write me off. To steal another one, I exist. But, you know, I’m going to do more than exist, I’m going to go out and win.

Five years ago, it was the NAS website and helpline which enabled me to self diagnose my Asperger’s syndrome. It gave me the tools to approach my doctor for a formal diagnosis but, more than anything, it gave something for me to approach my youngest son’s school with. Autism runs in families, as you know, and Martin was no longer either just a naughty boy or the product of inadequate parenting. Even though Bruno Bettelheim’s ‘refrigerator mother’ theory has long been discredited, misunderstanding, ignorance and prejudice still exist. I cannot imagine anything more rewarding than working with the National Autistic Society, to raise autism awareness in society and empower my own people to achieve dignity, respect, admiration, employment, education, successful relationships and the brightest of futures.

The NAS has run some remarkable campaigns, one of which gave rise to the Autism Act, while your current campaign, You Need to Know, is fantastic but perhaps could have included adults with autistic spectrum conditions. Mental health problems do not go away with age and sometimes they can be compounded by late diagnosis and the frustration of trying to communicate with a world that does not understand or whose preconceptions fail to recognise that difference is okay.

Looking ahead, it would be wonderful to see the National Autistic Society run a campaign called If I can, You Can, led by people on the autism spectrum, for people on the autism spectrum. Why? To enable spectrumites who have achieved, to inspire those who want to but may be unsure where to start. It would help parents realise their autistic children can do so much, can live independently and enhance the communities in which they live.

If you appoint me to the position of University Support Mentor, I hope my example and inspiration will communicate just this: If I can, You Can.