Welcome to TreeHouse, the national charity for autism education

TreeHouse is thrilled to be benefiting from the Lombard Rally 2007. The money raised will help fund a new National Centre for Autism Education, which is key to realising our ambition of changing the lives of all children with autism, and the lives of their families.

At least one in 100 children in the UK has a diagnosis of autism. Autism is a lifelong, neurological disorder which affects a person’s communication, imagination and social skills in different ways. The impact of this disability on family life can be devastating.

Although there is no cure for autism, education can unlock a child’s potential and many children at TreeHouse’s school far outstrip expectations. Unfortunately, many children with autism are unable to access the right learning opportunities. In fact, there are only 7,500 specialist educational places available for the 100,000 children with autism who need them and just a fifth of teachers working with a child with autism have had any autism specific training.

This year, TreeHouse is celebrating ten years of helping to change lives, through its pioneering school for children with autism and its national development services, which include parent support, consultancy for schools, teacher training and campaigning to influence national policy.

The Lombard Rally will help fund a crucial Road Safety teaching facility at our new centre. This is especially relevant for children with autism, who may have no concept of traffic at all. Laura, mum of Joe, explains:

“We had a horrible scare when Joe, who is 6, decided to take himself to the park near our home without telling anyone. Our front door is always locked but unbeknown to us, Joe had worked out how to get out through the basement. We were absolutely frantic because Joe’s autism means he does not understand the world around him in the way other children do and he has very limited verbal communication. I knew where he would be but I also knew that he would have had to cross two busy roads to get there. It would not have occurred to Joe for a second that the traffic between him and the park might be dangerous…he wouldn’t really even have been aware of it. Imagine our relief when we found him, happily sitting on a swing in his pyjamas. Now the teachers at TreeHouse are working with Joe to teach him how to tell me when he wants to go to the park, and to help him understand what traffic is and what he needs to do when he comes across it.”

To find out why TreeHouse is Ambitious about Autism, go to http://www.treehouse.org.uk/aaa-film/