Rotarian Peter Hill, with cheque in hand

The driving force behind the club’s support – they recently handed over a cheque for $20 0000 to The Australian Rotary Health Research Fund – has been member Peter Hill, himself a parent of a 17 year old son Matthew who suffers from the dreaded complaint.

Peter says that the club’s $20 000 donation when combined with The Australian Rotary Health Research Fund’s Funding Partners scheme meant that in all $36 000 became available to help the fight against autism.

Joy Gillette, CEO of ARHRF being presented with the $20,000 cheque by President Barry Brown

He also suggests that any clubs or organisations wanting to make a positive difference for children with autism can either establish their own funding project in co – operation with The Australian Rotary Health Research Fund or they can make a tax deductible donation directly to the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at Melbourne’s La Trobe University.

A Rotarian of some seven years standing Peter held the position as director for youth and young adults and as a director for The Partners in Autism Project.

Born at Bowral and educated at the local high school he then trained as a technician with Telecom. He is currently Communications Project Manager at the University of Wollongong.

Peter says his son Matthew has considerable difficulty in communicating his needs to the family and at times he can become very anxious.

He also says Matthew has difficulty at times in understanding what the family is trying to get across to him.

The severity of Matthew’s autism means he needs help with all areas of his life from dressing, bathing, preparation of food and while he can walk and run he has no concept of the danger from traffic.

“It means Matthew needs supervision at all times during his waking hours,” Peter says.

One single phrase says it all

Peter says to be told in one single phrase “your child has autism” extorts enormous emotional, social and economic costs to your family.

In a report by the Synergies Economic Consulting in 2007 titled The Economic Costs of Autism Spectrum Disorder it was estimated the disease cost the Australian economy between $4.5 to $7.2 billion.

With this information in hand the Dapto Rotary Club, he says, decided to take some positive action.

“The members understood the impact on a family of having a child with autism and made an early commitment to link up with The Partners in Autism Research Project”, Peter says.

Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD ) is a neurological condition that affects a person’s ability to speak, communicate, socialise, learn, play and behave in an appropriate manner. Its cause is not known, but it is diagnosed in approximately one in every 160 children under the age of six years with boys four times more likely to have the disorder than girls.

Peter says that socially ASD can be particularly hard for parents as the triggers for many of these anxiety related behaviours do not appear obvious to other people, who simply see “a naughty child”.

If you are interested in raising funds for the work of The Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre it can be contacted c/o School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086 or by telephoning 03 9479 3086.

The Centre’s web site is www.latrobe.edu.au/otarc/centre