We were formed in February 2005 and from just a few parents and children we have grown to over 135 parent members with about 75 children comprising very young three-year-old’s to preschoolers to primary and secondary school children age groups. Finally, we also have grown adults on the spectrum. We have about 15 adults aged from 18 years to 41 years who are mostly all boys with a proportion of four to one male female ratio.

Our yearly program
This comes alive during April each year when during the internationally recognised United Nations World Autism Awareness month we organize a month long series of events from sponsored walks, to chat desks set up a shopping Centers throughout the island to meet and greet a shoppers and tell them informally about ourselves, to social events. Since this summer, we are now the largest NGO charity group for a disabled community in Barbados.

The media are our friends
We appear on phone in programs on chat and call in radio stations and on television. We get the word out about the positive social effects that joining us can give families and we emphasize the importance of respite for mothers and fathers and for siblings who sometimes desperately need a break from parenting but don’t want to admit it because it hints at mental health issues. We openly identify this issue as this is all part of the spectrum and how it affects the child, siblings, parents or caregivers. We need to address these issues head on and provide solutions. As it is very important for the parent and caregiver to have time off from a 24/7/365 job, we hold events focusing on this subject, too.