Student Rosie King has been nominated for a Yorkshire Children of Courage Award for caring for her younger siblings, Daisy and Lenny, who both have a severe form of Asperger’s Syndrome.
Rosie, who also has Asperger’s Syndrome, is a young campaigner for the National Autism Society. She is working on a government paper to improve educational support for students in mainstream schools, as well as raising awareness for Autism when she presented a BBC Newsround special in 2011 called My Autism and Me. She worked with producers on the script to change the tone of the documentary, as she didn’t want other children with Autism to see it as being a negative thing.
Her biggest achievement came when the TED Corporation invited her to speak at the TEDMED conference in Washington DC last month. Rosie wrote her own speech at home and delivered it to 1000 delegates at the conference.
When asked, Rosie said she felt “really proud” to be considered for the award, but that she was just doing sisterly duties. The ceremony takes place on October 10th at the Royal Armouries in Leeds and honours the bravest and most courageous young people in the region.
