What is The Transforming Autism Project?

We work with families with young autistic children to transform their relationships and environment and optimise their self-esteem and future prospects.   We also reframe autism, offering a unique positive and empowering conception of it.

We provide crucial support for young autistic children and their families at an age when we can make a profound life-long difference. Our pioneering First Steps programme (created in association with Norland College and based on a therapeutic framework they created for us) focuses on giving families the tools they need to understand and interact with their autistic children in ways that make them feel understood, affirmed and nurtured, strengthening relationships and facilitating the child’s optimal development so that they are able to fulfil their true potential.

Unlike many other autism organisations, we do not focus on the perceived limitations or impairments associated with autism, but instead propose our own unique and empowering conception of it, highlighting the profound sensitivity inherent in the autistic condition as well as other positive aspects which, if nurtured appropriately, can lead to very positive outcomes.

We are currently fundraising to enable more families to partake in First Steps, and over time, we aspire to open our own state of the art therapeutic centre in the UK.

Our Values

We are a strongly values-driven organisation, and are committed to manifesting our values in how we relate to each other and to the outside world; in what we are trying to achieve and in how we do it.  Our values are intended to achieve the following:

         1 - Guide our attitudes and behaviour in our approach to our work and our communication with each other and others

         2 - Make our charity a safe and positive place for all who join or associate with our team, including autistic people

         3 - To give every member of our team an opportunity for profound personal development and self-reflection

They come under 3 core headings:

Unconditional Respect:

  • Kindness - Active and constant interest in each other’s welfare and how best to promote it. Alertness and responsiveness to their needs and to our own, ensuring maximum respect for both.  Unquestioning acceptance of the inherent and equal value of each individual, regardless of their attributes and character.
  • Trust-based Collaboration - True sense of team unity in all actions. Keen mutual empowerment. Having the courage to keep trusting others and to honour the trust placed in us. Being consistently true to our word.
  • Authenticity - True openness in our activities, intentions and feelings.  Expressing externally what is inside; and moulding what is inside to reflect our highest aspirations for ourselves.

Courage:

  • Pioneering Big Thinking - Thinking outside traditional constraints to realise a belief in what is possible (and beyond). Questioning established assumptions and not being afraid to modify, or build from scratch in order to ensure possibilities and distinctiveness in all ways for our charity. Constant openness to use unconventional routes if beneficial.
  • Ambition - Uncompromising aspiration for what we can achieve. A focus on excellence in all actions and on the abundant possibilities that there are - rather than on any limitations or apparent scarcity - to allow full potential to be revealed and keenly pursued..
  • Perspectives, Not Positions – Approaching issues and decisions not with fixed opinions that we then need to defend, but rather with a perspective on what seems to make sense, which can enrich and be enriched by others’ perspectives.

Purpose:

  • Positive Approach - A firm focus on what we can achieve, not what we can’t – and on finding ways to get there as effectively as possible, overcoming any obstacles in the way and keeping things simple and light. A consistent connection with the underlying purpose of all our activities.
  • Ownership - Firmly owning each activity we are engaged in, and determinedly seeing it through to the end, keeping others informed and carrying them with us. Seeing the charity as ours, and feeling a wish to contribute in multiple ways.
  • Continuous Learning & Improvement - Actively seeking the lessons in all our daily activities and experiences and using them to pro-actively change ourselves in the enthusiastic pursuit of excellence in all areas.

Behind the Values:

Our CEO lays out the story and thinking that led to these values.

Our Working Principles

  • Simplicity - Keeping communications, documents, discussions, etc as brief and easily digestible as possible.
  • Care - Ensuring that everything we do is done with the care to ensure its success and that it is very easily understood by others.
  • Agility - Ensuring we keep the ability to adapt and flex to a changing situation.