Act for Autism is a social enterprise based in Warwickshire founded in 2016 By Tessa Morton and Jane Gurnett. Its purpose is to empower autistic kids to have a voice and talk about autism with the wider community. The community project specific to this award is the Autism Voices film projects. Having been successful as NAS short list nominees in 2018 they embarked on 3 more film projects which have been equally successful in giving confidence to the cast but also a wider awareness to the many people who have benefited from seeing the films on social media and live at training events and conferences. This year’s film project ’Autism Voices 2’ won a prestigious award at a film festival in Milan and the students have been empowered to take the films into their schools and host assemblies and staff training themselves. There are two more projects planned for 2020. The self-esteem and self-acceptance derived from the project has surpassed all expectations. We show the films on our parent and school training courses to educate about autism but also to inspire others never to underestimate the ability and the desire that autistic students have to express themselves. |