The Autism Show

• Guide dogs only on a shop door would translate as this shop only serves guide dogs so it would stop him going into the shop.
• On the tube escalators there is a sign that says dogs must be carried therefore he can only use the escalators when carrying a dog. This is made even worse if the sign says dogs and children must be carried!
• The yellow line on the floor that you can’t cross until the train is in the platform. The announcements clearly state ‘Do not cross the yellow line’ which in turn then causes a problem as how do you get on the train if you can’t cross this line.

You can really see how everyday life can be such a challenge with all the misleading signs in the world, it really did open our eyes.

We then decided we wanted to watch Autism’s Got Talent, yes you did read that correctly. Autism’s got talent is an event organised by Anna Kennedy OBE.

Anna Kennedy is a truly inspirational mum, she has two autistic sons who were turned away from mainstream education so she remortgaged her house and set up a school that would cater for their needs. She didn’t stop there as there are now two schools, a college and a respite home and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Her hard work has been recognised as she was awarded and OBE in 2012 and won Tesco Achieving Mum of the Year this year.

So what is Autism’s Got Talent? Its a place for people on the spectrum to showcase their talents and achievements, I found this truly inspirational and very moving.

Now my very short experience in the autistic world has revolved around autistic children for obvious reasons. My only experience of teenagers and adults is from watching TV programmes and they, more often than not, always focus on the worst case scenario and this is therefore why the future scares the life out of me. Watching Autism’s Got Talent helped to put me at ease and I found it such an emotional experience that I was fighting back the tears.

The show started with three boys singing a Westlife classic, it wasn’t the the most amazing performance of the song I had ever heard, but the fact that these boys had no problem coming out and performing in-front of a room packed full of strangers amazed me. The passion, they put into their performance was amazing, by the end of the song everyone had their arms in the air swaying to the music.

Two of the boys from this group come back on stage for a second performance and this time their chosen track was a Dizzee Rascal number. It was a fantastic performance and you could see and feel their enjoyment as they performed, everyone loved it. I had real trouble fighting back the tears because I would be so proud if my Ethan, at 18 could be up on stage doing what they did. It is something I would never be able to do.

The next act was an amazing young girl who’s passion is musical theatre and classical music and she was amazing. Not a sound could be heard as she performed her songs and if Simon Cowell was in the room I’m sure he would have wanted to sign her on the spot.

We were also shown a video of a young man who is non-verbal but can sing, he performed the track Your Beautiful. Another absolutely amazing experience that had me in floods. How can someone non-verbal be able to sing a song so beautifully yet struggles to communicate with the world. The wonders of autism!

The last person to showcase their talent was the lovely Jo Redman who wasn’t diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome until she an adult. I am discovering that it is quite common for girls to be missed but with Jo’s diagnosis came a new understanding of herself and she has achieved so many things since that date.

Jo is the current and multiple WKC World Champion, 2nd degree black belt and an instructor with BCKA Kickboxing. Both Darren and I were just sitting there saying WOW to each other as she talked. Can you believe that even though she has all these titles she is struggling to secure the funds to attend this years event with the aim to win her third world title. If you are feeling generous and want to help her achieve her dream you can help her HERE.

If your thinking why am I giving you all of these links for Jo, I was very brave and went up to quickly see her at the end of the show. Something I would never normally do and totally out of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad I did as we now follow each other on twitter and she is a very lovely person. I really hope she can achieve her goal and if I can help by making people aware via this post I’m happy to do so.

We decided to call it a day after this as I don’t think my emotions could take anymore. It was amazing listening to people on the spectrum talk about their life, how they think and what they have achieved. It gives me a sense of hope that Ethan will be OK.