"It's my seat"! With an outrageous push, 8 years old Dylan let a random lady on the bus who tried to sit on a normal seat know that she took "his" seat. The obessesion of public transport is one of the traits of 9 years old Dylan, an autistic boy. He loves "mind the gap" broadcast on the train, as well as having his exclusive seat on bus.



Dylan's world could be very quiet, but when he does want to talk, his words become distorted into a fury of scream and wails. Dylan was diagnosed as Autism at two years old. Since then his single mother, Anita, and his then 14 years elder sister, Nikita, have had to adapt their lives to his individual needs. 



"For normal children, you grow into a parent for them, while for autistic children, you have to change yourself because they never will," says Anita. Before Dylan was born, Anita was a singer and played in a band. Even when she broke up with Nikita's father, she still did not give up on her dream of performing on stage. She says that it was all she ever wanted to do. Now, with Dylan's condition, Anita knew that her life would take a different path. After 5 years without job, she got a position in senior citizen community to teach music. While, her music talent did inherit to her Children. Nikita is pursing a career in music and already has a song published. She works part-time as children party entertainer and gig singer while doing a degree in music. The happiness could be easily spotted on Dylan when Nikita picks up her guitar and plays songs to him.



When Dylan was younger, his less severe form of autism allows him to continue attending mainstream school in lieu of being sent to a special establishment. However, as he becomes older, more and more problems emerge. His teachers cannot always tolerate his sporadic waves of frustration (sometimes as biting and kicking) and special unit in a normal school could means mix of children with autistic problems in various levels which would bring negative effects on Dylan as well. Hoping Dylan could have improved social interaction in the future, Anita tried her best to tangling with various policies to find the best place which suits Dylan well.



With a "hyper" autistic symptoms (extreme daily reactions), even the most prosaic situation could pose dangerous outcomes, such as Dylan's preference for running at full speed all the time. Accordingly, Anita and Nikita have had to devise simple but effective ways to try and make Dylan understand when he is putting himself in danger. "For other children, they may have a second chance, but for autistic children, there are no second chances to save their life. You can say 'danger' and 'stop', while they just wouldn't understand you."



There are currently more than 100,000 children with autism in England. The condition affects social understanding, behaviour and communication and usually develops during childhood.



It is an ongoing project starts from 2011 about Autism and a strong, positive family behind it.