My story
We are super *EXCITED* to share with you all that we will be fundraising for the National Autistic Society by organising our own 5k walk during World Autism Acceptance Month, April 2025. As you may all know we have a 5 year-old boy by the name of Karanveer who is on the spectrum. When we heard about this walk it was a given, we just had to show our support to our son and other families out there who also face challenges like us on a daily. So just a little about Karanveer, he has to be the most intelligent little boy we have come across, they always say people on the spectrum have a superpower and without a doubt our little boy does. Karanveer learnt his ABC around 8 months of age, he would just recite it daily, we actually cannot recall a single day without the ABC being a part of our lives. He now knows the ABC in 4 different languages, being, English, Spanish, Russian and Turkish, which he has learnt all by himself, as well as being able to recite it flawlessly backwards. Karanveer’s passion for ABC grew over the years and led him to be able to read and write. He then went on to explore numbers, showing the same interest he had in the ABC's. By the time Karanveer reached the age of 4 he was able to recite up to his 20 timetables, add up numbers and do long multiplication. No doubt we are super proud of Karanveer for how far he has come, but we have to say we never take it for granted, as proud as parents we may be we also see his daily struggles that really do make the most simple of tasks seem like a chore or even in some cases a nightmare. A simple trip to the supermarket will always result in Karanveer having a meltdown and simply not being able to cope with the, noise, smell and the amount of people. The lack of his understanding heightens the situation as he simply cannot understand why he is being told to do something. We usually have a 10 minute window before he is unable to cope, and once we realised this we decided it was simply not fair to put him through the stress and pain of it all. We do however attempt every few months to see if he can manage and in all honestly to date no movement, but we keep persevering. Taking Karanveer out of his safe space (his home) can be extremely difficult, so something like a walk around the block would start off fine but again that 10 minute window and we have meltdown. It can be difficult most days as we also have a 2 year old little girl and we are unable to do family activities outside of the house, as Karanveer also has no understanding of dangers and would just run into the road with oncoming traffic without a second thought. These are just a few of things that we face along with beige food eating, night terrors, lack of eye contact and struggles with potty training. Having a child on the spectrum can bring so many difficulties and in all honesty each day is different from the last. This is just a little overview of what we can face on a daily. However putting the struggles aside we have to say Karanveer is such a sweet polite little boy who shows alot of affection and gives the best hugs. Having charity organisations that understand and help support families who are in the same boat or worse than us is simply amazing. So if you can help us raise some money towards a cause that is so close to our hearts and see what we can raise, would simply be amazing. To read more about the work of the National Autistic Society, visit www.autism.org.uk Thank you soooo much Chana Family