I caught up with Chris at the photoshoot for the campaign and asked him why he’s fighting to end the wait for support for adults with autism in Kensington.
I tell Chris he often appears meditative. He explains that he learnt to be like this to defend himself against the anxiety caused by his autism and people’s ignorance of it. “When I couldn’t get a diagnosis because doctors thought all my problems were purely psychological, I wanted to kill myself.
”Too many GPs, psychiatrists and other doctors still don’t know enough about autism. I only got a diagnosis by going private, and if it hadn’t been for my friends I wouldn’t be here today.”
I ask Chris if he remembers the Autism Act being passed in 2009.
He thinks for a moment and says it was the same year his book was published. It’s clear he’s a born writer as I listen to him describe his autism and the impact of a lack of support.
“Many of us on the spectrum experience the world with such deep aching. Seeing, feeling, touching, tasting the world with such intensity and longing, but at the same time this world seems for the most part beyond our reach.
Since my diagnosis I’ve tried to get post-diagnostic support but they told me nothing was available,” he says quietly, getting up for more photos.
I ask Chris if he remembers the Autism Act being passed in 2009.
He thinks for a moment and says it was the same year his book was published. It’s clear he’s a born writer as I listen to him describe his autism and the impact of a lack of support.
“Many of us on the spectrum experience the world with such deep aching. Seeing, feeling, touching, tasting the world with such intensity and longing, but at the same time this world seems for the most part beyond our reach.
Since my diagnosis I’ve tried to get post-diagnostic support but they told me nothing was available,” he says quietly, getting up for more photos.
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