Hi my name is Chloe and I have Autism.

I’ve had autism from birth but I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 15, which meant that that my younger years were really confusing for me - and add bulling to that and I was quite unhappy and found life difficult. After feeling completely isolated and excluded at school I didn’t want to go to school and found it really had to make friends.

What it was like

I found that people didn’t understand me or my disability - communication was difficult, and maintaining eye contact whilst talking was always hard. Expressing my feeling was was also difficult, so it was rare that I did it. This meant I was quite depressed and didn’t socialize with people of my age.

It was a lonely time growing up, but after my diagnosis at 15 things become a bit easier because, finally, I had a reason to explain why I felt the way I did and the difficulties I’d faced.

Where I went for help

At 16 I attended Riverside School which was a specialized school that could help me work through my issues whilst leaning. This was a massive turning point for me which allowed me to grow and develop as a person and socially. After many years of self-doubt, I was finally confident enough to speak to more people and believe in myself.

When I started STEP Think Tank I had people that I could talk to about what I was feeling. I had somewhere I could be me in a place that I was not judged. This helped me to be myself and show people the me that I was keeping inside. I am happier as a person now, and I have to thank STEP for all they did for me.

Then I met the people in The Platform Project and they got me to open up even more. The Platform Project is a social enterprise company that helps young people find out who they are, what skills they could earn money from, or learn how they can work for themselves.

In these projects I have designed printed goods like t-shirts and mugs, made videos on homelessness, and now I am a part of this awesome magazine. I have gained so much confidence in myself and I have enjoyed working in these environments because they help me see how I can fit into the real world of work. These skills I have learned will help me in my future and in my wider life.

What is Autism?

· Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them.
·Autism is a spectrum condition, which means that all autistic people share certain difficulties, but it will affect them in different ways.
·Autism affects more than 1 in 100 people - that means that there are over 700,000 people on the Autistic spectrum in the UK alone!
·Nearly two-thirds of children with autism between the ages of 6 and 15 have been bullied.
·90% of autistic people have anxiety or depression.

For information on Autism and how to deal with it, have a look at: www.Autism.org.uk