Imagine if someone came to you and said that your child, or someone you love unconditionally, can not understand or communicate with the world around them and has a difference in ability to learn how to be able to understand and communicate compared to 'typical' children. They then went on to explain that there is an intensive therapy programme that your precious child could do which could fundementally change the quality of life they will have, for the rest of their life, and may even allow them to learn to understand and communicate in a different way to the 'norm'. However, because of the expense, the NHS or Local Authority will not fund this therapy, but you are told by many professionals, including NHS professionals, in no uncertain terms, that this would be the very best thing you could do for your child.
 
This is the position we are in. 

And my response is simple. I will do whatever it takes to ensure my child has every possible chance ...Fletcher's Future is to raise money to be able to do just that. 

The therapy programme that will enable Fletcher to have the best possible quality of life will cost a minimum of £13,000 a year. 

Fletcher is 2 years old and has Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. 

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

Fletcher currently has very limited verbal communication and struggles with non verbal communication skills. He has very little understanding. He requires constant supervision, has no awareness of danger and has now begun to bite, pinch and punch himself and others through frustration and anxiety. Fletcher struggles in social situations and public situations. Hates to be restrained in any way so car seats, push chairs or high chairs are very difficult to keep him in. He is very hyper active, constantly climbing, jumping, running round and round in circles, walking on tip toes and lining things. Fletcher is unable to play creatively, has an incredibly poor sleep pattern (possible 6 hours broken sleep in a 24 hr period and although bed time routine is the same every night, because it has to be for Fletcher, it can take anything between 2 and 4 hours to get him to sleep on average) and constantly follows me, his mum, around. He has separation anxiety when it comes to being seperated from me and has many rituals and processes he must go through. He finds it very difficult to go from one thing to another and he has a number of heavy attachments such as balls, Peppa Pig, cars and Wellies. He gets frustrated very quickly, has a wide range of sensory issues such a noises, textures and temperatures and does not understand others emotions. Fletcher becomes very anxious very quickly and is literally terrified with certain noises or a spider or because someone is too close to him, to name but a few. He needs to wear ear defenders regularly, struggles to eat food and when he does eat it will only be mushy and cold. He simply refuses anything above room temperature. Fletcher has never had a story read to him, learnt how to put a puzzle together or sat still for longer than 30 seconds. 

With Fletcher we currently get through each day the best we can. Fletcher has a family and support network that love him endlessly and would do whatever they can for him but I want to give my little boy the world, not just let him exist in it. 

I am a single mum to two beautiful children. Fletcher, who is 2 and Milly, who is 9. Due to his conditions, I have become Fletcher's full time carer.



From the day Fletcher was born his life has been a struggle. He has been unwell with many different things in his short time in this world. He was born with Gastro Oesophageal Reflux Disease which causes cuts in his oesophagus and stomach which is very painful and makes him regularly be sick. He has an inability to digest many foods so he chokes on his sick. He is lactose, soya, cow's milk protein, wheat, gluten and casein intollerent and has had a number of prolonged unexplained seizures. He also has sinus issues that cause him to struggle to breathe at night.

Just before Fletcher's 2nd birthday he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. On the day he was diagnosed I promised my beautiful boy that I would do whatever it took to give him the opportunity to life that he deserves.

Initially, due to the immense strain Fletcher's behaviour has on the family unit, we were incredibly lucky that Fletcher's great uncle and aunt very kindly donated the funds to get Fletcher diagnosed privately because of the extensive wait for an NHS diagnosis. However, because we did this it enabled us to gain an early diagnosis from the NHS too. Shortly after his 2nd birthday in June 2015, he recieved the same diagnosis from our NHS consultant (who is one of the many professionals who is very supportive of this programme for Fletcher)

It woud have taken approximatley 2 - 3 years to just get a diagnosis through the NHS if we had not initially got the diagnosis privately. By which time the crucial window of opporunity would have been missed for early intensive behavioural intervention. 

What we are raising funds for is an ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) Therapy programme for Fletcher. What this entails is 30-40 hours a week of intensive interventions given by a team of 3-4 tutors. This would not only allow us the chance to give Fletcher every opportunity to improve his quality of life but also ours as a family.

Daily life is currently a struggle for the 3 of us. By implementing early intensive behavioural intervention through an ABA Therapy programme  Fletcher will have every chance every young person deserves. This therapy will enable Fletcher to learn to communicate with the world and not be so frustrated and anxious. It will enable him to gain independence, learn about and understand social interaction, implement and maintain positive behaviour management and I have high hopes that Fletcher may actually sleep. I would love to get to the point where I can read my son a story, or sit down and do a puzzle. Simple things to many, but to me they would mean the world.

Daily life is full of worries and stresses and my biggest concern is how can I help my little boy? After extensive research I believe this is how I help Fletcher, and the strain of trying to get the ABA programme in place and how I will be able to fund this programme is immense. The research speaks for itself and if you would like more information on this please do not hesitate to ask. 

I am now in a position where, along with Child Autism UK (previously known as Peach), we can start a programme for Fletcher. I have my team of tutors, only one of which is to be paid as the other tutors are myself and two family members, and I have Child Autism UK ready to train us. All that is stopping us is the funding.

It is breaking my heart daily watching my son in his own little world struggling constantly. He is only two and the earlier the intervention can be put in place the better chance my little fighter Fletcher can have at reaching his full potential in life. I am tired of people telling me 'he is only two, you have plenty of time', because I don't. Fletcher doesn't. I do not want to miss this crucial window of opportunity to fundamentally change not only the rest of Fletcher's life but mine and my daughters too. Early intervention is key.

I am attempting to raise funds any way I can and will continue to fund raise for Fletcher's ABA programme. It isn't just simply the Therapy itself, there is so much more that comes with it, all the resources etc. I will update this page as fund raisers occur for example, Fletcher's sister is organising a sponsored silence at her school and I have decided to begin training for a number of marathons (any of you who know me knows what a hilarious thought this is). There is a Skydive being arranged and a photoshoot drive as well as a number of events being arranged by Milly's old school where my nephew attends. 

If any of you have any fund raising suggestions or wish to do something to raise funds please let me know. 

I will also be beginning a blog so that everyone can follow Fletcher's progress and will post the link asap.

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the way ABA is so unknown in the UK and the fight many parents, like myself, have to implement what to me is one of the best chances any child with ASD could have.

I believe that ABA Therapy will be an 'educational life-long'  programme for Fletcher and he will require ABA Therapy throughout his education. As I said previously, the £13,000 that we are currently raising will fund only one year of the programme for Fletcher. 

I will attempt to raise enough funds to be able to provide this ground breaking therapy for Fletcher for as long as I can. It breaks my heart to know that it is highly likely that I will have to succumb to the knowledge that it will forever be a fight to provide this for Fletcher and that there is always a chance that I can not give my son what not only he deserves but, honestly, what he truly needs.

Once I have trained in ABA Therapy I intend to do what I can to help other families in the same position as us. What would be amazing is if we could raise enough money to not only enable Fletcher to recieve this programme for as many years as possible but to be able to create a charity that can offer donations to many other children with ASD so they can also have the opportunity to recieve ABA therapy.

There are no words that can explain how much it would mean to recieve any assistance that you can give towards helping me keep my promise to my beautiful boy and helping me continue to fight for Fletcher's Future.

Thank you!!