Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Hello all. Thank you in advance for taking time out to help raise money for our chosen charity "Family Fund" and helping to raise awarness of Autism.

Firstly id like to tell you a little about Austism, as its a condition that affects around 1 in 88 children and if people understood the condition then we think this would make life just a little more hassel free for children with ASD and familys also.

Autism is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. People with autism may also experience over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.

Children can be anywhere on the spectrum, and conditions may vary, its sometimes not easy to spot and it may take a while before a child has a proffesional diagnoses of ASD.

So thats a brief discription but heres the personal stuff....

Our 2nd born Charlie was in our eyes just the same as Lewis was, he smiled when he looked at you, he moved well, played, laughed and babbled and started to talk at the age of 11 months, but when he reached around 18 months he changed.

Charlie regressed in his speech and his communication and interactive skills were not there anymore. This for us was a heart-breaking time, what happened to our lil man? why was he changing and why did he seem different? And to this day know one can answer that question, and we doubt in our lifetime that we will ever get an asnwer.

The next 12 months were emotional, stressful & yes at times heart-breaking but we knew we had to face it and that Charlie was Autistic.

With endless trips to the doctors, seeking profession advise, speech therapy, you name it we did it and we were not giving up until we had the help we needed for our son.

Within a year Charlie was diagnosed with Autism, and this was sad getting the official Yes but its what he needed as we knew he would get the right support. We couldnt be in denial.

Now charlie has just turned four years old we are amazed at his progress over the last 12 months. He can look us in the face with amazing eye contact, he can play and interact, he is developing relationships and most importantly has a great relationship with his older Brother. He is becoming more indepedant and trying to do things for himself, and he is learning and doing Amazigly well at a fab pres-school, with help from some wonderful staff.

Yes he has a lot that he needs help with, and he has a lot of catching up to do but he is the most happiest little boy in the world with an amazing brother and a family who adore him to the moon and back.

Times are hard on occasions and situations may be difficult, and we have to plan most things we do and stick to a plan to make sure Charlie is stress free, we have to understand that Charlie sees things differently to us, we dont know why but we have to try to understand.

We just want to raise the awarness and really for others to just be a little considerate, dont stare or make a child with Autism feel uncomfortable or the family member, take time out to understand the reasons why. Explain to your children that not all kids are the same and there are many different disabilities out there but we are all human and deserve to feel loved and be happy.

Our Charity Family Fund donated an ipad to Charlie as it was suggested by a professional that ipads are a great tool for children with Autism to learn, speak and express their feelings. Charlie is doing all of these now and grabs his ipad and sits and has fun with all the Autism Apps. Its Amazing and we are so thank-full for this.

We would like to donate all funds to this charity so they can continue to put another smile on more childrens faces, and help the familys out there who want a better life for their child. who wouldnt?

Thank you all and please please help continue to raise awarness....2/4/2014 is wear it blue day for Autism, so dig out your blue shirts, tops etc and support this day with us.

Thank You All

Dianne, Darren, Lewis and Charlie ...our lil Char-Star :)