The Autism Awareness Campaign UK was launched in 2000 by parents Ivan Corea and Charika Corea who have a son with autism spectrum disorder and a communication disorder.

What started as a small acorn of an idea in their front room turned into one of the most successful disability campaigns in the United Kingdom, supported by the public, the media and parliamentarians of all parties in the Palace of Westminster in London.

There are 520,000 people with autism and 90,000 autistic children in the United Kingdom - many still suffer without public services. Ivan Corea has called on the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Her Majesty's Government to make provision for the personalisation of public services for all people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome.

The Corea Family are still campaigning on a range of issues including autism and the labour market, autism and education, autism and minority ethnic communities in the UK. 'There is a great deal of unfinished business when it comes to autism and Asperger's Syndrome,' said Ivan Corea.

Ivan and Charika Corea have been lobbying for greater awareness of the condition, for public services in health, education, specialist speech therapy and respite care for all people with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome and for independent research on the causes of autism.

The inspiration behind 2002 as Autism Awareness Year was their son Charin. Autism Awareness Year pushed the issue straight up the political agenda, it struck a chord with the general public and received huge coverage in the British media.

The Prime Minister Tony Blair was the first ever British Prime Minister in history to talk about autism in the House of Commons on 9th January 2002.

The Autism Awareness Campaign was successful in initiating major debates in parliament - Linda Perham MP launched one of the highest attended autism parliamentary debates in 2002 Autism Awareness Year on 9th January 2002. The Baroness Pola Uddin also launched a very successful autism debate in the House of Lords in March 2002.

Both these debates preceded a debate on Autism Awareness Year launched by the Scottish Parliament on 6th December 2001. It was a historic occasion.

The first ever Service for Autism was held in February 2002 at St.Paul's Cathedral in London and major conference on Autism was held at the King's Fund in London.

External links

• Autism Awareness Campaign UK (http://www.ukautism.com)