Of the 200,000 autistic children living in the UK, a quarter speak few or no words. Many also have an anxiety disorder – more than 4 in 10. This means many autistic children are living with anxiety but do not have the ability to communicate when they are suffering.
The Pixel Fund’s vital support to Autistica, the UK’s autism research charity, over the past 12 months, has enabled us to build the first-ever parent-led therapy treatment that aims to reduce the frequency and severity of anxiety experienced by these children.
Autistica’s key accomplishments so far include:
Publishing the first systematic investigation into the effectiveness of anxiety treatments for autistic children who speak few or no words;
Interviewing 17 parents on their experiences and strategies for recognising and managing their children’s anxiety (with findings published through an internationally acclaimed research journal);
Agreed on the structure and content of the therapy with 24 families, in online community workshops; and,
Finalised a parent-led therapy manual for parents to begin delivering the therapy.
The treatment is now ready to be piloted with up to 16 autistic children aged 4-12 years old, with their parents receiving 4 months of assisted therapy training and coaching.
If the therapy is effective, our team will apply for further funding to support a large-scale trial of the therapy in the NHS. If successful, the trial could enable our therapy to be used in health services, helping thousands of families.