Sutherland House School

Autism is a complex lifelong condition that affects how a person sees and understands the world and how they communicate and interact socially. Like other neuro-diverse conditions, autism isn't visible, which can make it difficult to understand and acknowledge.

With the right structured support, education and care, children and adults with autism can live a full and independent life. Roughly 1% of the UK population is born with autism. That's around 700,000 people . However, that figure may be much higher if you consider that it's based only on those people that have received a diagnosis. Not everyone is diagnosed.

Communication – where words, gestures, tones of voice and facial expressions can be confusing and open to misinterpretation. Social relationships – autistic children and adults can often seem indifferent to other people, friends and even their parents / carers and they may struggle to make friends.

Processing – abstract ideas, imaginative thought and activities are affected, which means that autistic people can face difficulties in making sense of their experiences.