As The National Autistic Society reaches its 50th birthday, the first generation of people diagnosed with autism in childhood is also reaching middle age and more adults are being diagnosed for the first time.
Our new Autism In Maturity project is gathering information to help improve the lives of people with autism aged 40 and over. The project is a natural extension to our ongoing work with children and younger adults. Launching at the end of March, we will develop a range of website based resources in addition to complementing the work of the NAS in the community.
As one of many strands of the project, we are conducting a survey of siblings. If you have a brother or sister with autism, aged 40 or over, we'd like to hear from you.
As a sibling, your parents may be helping support your brother or sister with autism - but as they get older, they may find it more difficult to cope. If you are suddenly faced with taking over, do you know how to get the support you need to help your sibling? You may be providing support already, but finding it difficult to access information or resources.
In order to provide information for more mature adults with autism and their siblings, we need to find out how supporting your sibling with autism will impact on your own life.
So if you have a brother or sister who is aged 40 or over and has a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder, email cos.michael@nas.org.uk and we will send you the link to our survey.
The survey is confidential and will take 10-20 minutes to complete. Thank you for your help.