Beacon is a charitable initiative to raise the the profile of philanthropy in the UK, awarding the Beacon Prize to individuals whose giving, be it their time, their money, or their expertise, inspires others to do more.
Ivan and Charika Corea were nominated their contribution to raising awareness of autism spectrum disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome. Their efforts have been personally backed by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. They initiated the largest ever movement for autism in the UK and launched 2002 as Autism Awareness Year supported by 800 UK organisations. The Judges applauded their work and they have received the Beacon Highly Commended Award Certificate for Leadership, second only to Sir Bob Geldof who was the winner in the Leadership category.
‘We were thrilled with the quality of the nominations received this year, reflecting the full depth and extent of charitable activity in the UK,’ commented Emily Stonor, Chief Executive of Beacon. ‘Being highly commended is thus remarkable. Ivan and Charika Corea’s nomination was judged alongside those for prize winners such as Sir Bob Geldof and Jamie Oliver.’
‘We are delighted to recognise Ivan and Charika Corea’s contribution to charity and we hope that their success story will be an inspiration to others,' said the Chief Executive of Beacon.
‘Ivan Corea said: ‘We are delighted to receive this Beacon Award Highly Commended Certificate. Autism is now an election issue. We have appealed to Tony Blair, Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy to take autism seriously and look at providing better public services for the 520,000 people autism and 90,000 children with autism. We still need the twin paths of inclusion in mainstream schools and special schools; we need further education and higher education opportunities for people with autism; special qualifications recognised by employers for young people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome; labour market opportunities for all people with autism and a debate on autism and the elderly. There is still a great deal of suffering for parents, carers and autists and the next Government must move autism up the political agenda and give parents, carers and autists real choice and real opportunity to enable them to rise above the barriers placed before them.’
He urged party leaders to state how they plan to improve public services for parents, carers and autists.
Ivan Corea was appointed a London 2012 Olympic bid Ambassador by Lord Sebastian Coe. He has been very active across London visiting and meeting community organisations, schools and clubs. ‘I am very excited, London is a beautiful city, rich in diversity, we are ready for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – I urge everyone to back the bid, it is London’s turn and we are ready,’ said Ivan Corea. The final decision will be made by the International Olympic Committee in Singapore.
Ivan and Charika Corea of the Autism Awareness Campaign in the UK have called on Her Majesty's Government to provide better public services for the 520,000 autistic community in 2004.
Autism is very much in the news in the UK. Mark Haddon's 'must read' book 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' is a best seller - the central character, a 15 year old boy has a form of autism. Charlotte Moore's wonderful tome, 'George and Sam' was published in the UK. Autism Awareness Week was a huge success for the National Autistic Society. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA) chaired by Liz Blackman MP celebrated the first anniversary of the APPGA Manifesto in Westminster.
The Autism Awareness Campaign UK are calling for the 'personalisation' of public services to break the postcode lottery - some councils are withholding public services on the grounds of cost. There is a great deal of suffering as a result of their actions.
'We are asking Tony Blair and the Government to empower us - give us tailor made packages and funding so that we could go out and get the public services we badly need. Personalisation will give us better choice and alternatives, we don't have to be at the mercy of councils, and NHS Trusts. It will also sharpen councils, social services, LEAs and NHS Trusts who will have to be on their toes or else parents, carers and autists will 'shop elsewhere' for public services,' said Ivan Corea in Autism Awareness Week 2004.
Ivan and Charika Corea initiated 2002 as Autism Awareness Year, it came about as a result of their anguish to access services for their son, Charin - it is the largest ever movement for autism - 800 organisations came on board as partners of the year - it was an outstanding success in terms of raising the profile of Britain's autistic community and about the condition.
However there is a great deal of unfinished business. Parents, carers and autistic people desperately need public services.
Ivan and Charika Corea are calling for an end to the postcode lottery to access basic education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care for parents, carers and autistic people in the United Kingdom.
'Now is the time for action on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome,' said Ivan Corea.
Our son Charin was born in the East End of London in the UK in 1996. When this bundle of joy was placed in my arms I could only offer a prayer of thanks to God for this wonderful gift of life.
Charin seemed to develop normally.He smiled at three weeks, babbled at 9 months, walked at one year. He loved looking at books, enjoyed listening to music and he started doing complex puzzles at a very early age.
Suddenly it all went horribly wrong. At twenty months he stopped babbling.
It was extraordinary. A few months before it was as if he was on the verge of talking - here we were with a baby who went into his shell and slammed the door on the outside world. I must add that the MMR vaccination was given when he was eleven months.Scientists now think there is a genetic link with autism, however opinion is still divided and as parents and carers we would like to know the causes of autism. We need an independent research project lasting 5-10 years.
We took Charin to the paediatrician who diagnosed pervasive developmental disorder which refers to a whole group of disorders characterised by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialisation and communication.
Symptoms of PDD include severe communication problems such as understanding language; difficulty to relating to people, objects and events, unusual play with toys and other objects; difficulty with changes in routine or familiar surroundings and repetitive body movements or patterns.
Autism, the experts suggest, is a brain disorder characterised by impaired social interaction and communication skills and limited activities and interests is the most characteristic and best studied PDD.
Other types of PDD are Asperger's syndrome, Rett's Syndrome,childhood disintegrative disorders and others.
Autism is a neuro- developmental disorder - all of us have neurones in our brains to process thought,they need to fire in the correct order - in the brains of an autistic child or adult they don't fire at all or they just misfire. That is why you cannot give an autistic child complex commands - everything has to be kept well and truly simple.
We see our son Charin as a wonderful gift from God. He is indeed a very special person who brings us joy - we give thanks to God for his life.
We welcome the work carried out by Her Majesty's Government.The Prime Minister recently answered our Big Autism Question in the Big Conversation (Please see www.ukautism.com) The DOH and the DFES have issued guidelines to educational and health professionals to mark 2002 Autism Awareness Year. Autism will feature in the National Service Framework for Children.
Prime Minister Tony Blair is the first British Prime Minister in living history ever to talk about autism in public - in the House of Commons and outside the Palace of Westminster. He has personally supported our campaign. So has the Leader of the Opposition,the Leader of the Liberal Democrats and hundreds of parliamentarians of all parties.
We are calling for more public services in 2004 to help all autistic children and adults in the UK.
www.ukautism.com
