The inaugural Annual TreeHouse Lecture: 'Are we ambitious enough about autism?

The inaugural Annual TreeHouse Lecture, entitled Are we ambitious enough about autism? was held at City Hall on 22 October 2008. The event included a keynote address from Bob Wright, a former chief executive of NBC Universal and the co-founder of US charity Autism Speaks, with responses from Virginia Bovell OBE, parent of a teenager with autism and Anya Ustaszewski, a member of the London Autism Rights Movement, who is autistic. The event was chaired by TreeHouse patron Jon Snow.

Ian Wylie, TreeHouse Chief Executive, said: The aim of the TreeHouse Annual Lecture is to bring together a diverse audience and engage in important and controversial issues affecting people with autism. At the inaugural lecture last week, the audience included people with autism, parents, academics, professionals, charities, philanthropists and opinion-formers. The topic Are we Ambitious Enough about Autism? provoked a lively debate among speakers and members of the audience. It was perhaps the first time that all of these voices were heard in one forum in the UK and we look forward to continuing the debate in future years.

TreeHouse hopes that despite differences in opinion, events such as this raise awareness about autism which is crucial in moving forward in overcoming the hurdles that exist in many different forms.

The event was sponsored by TalkTalk, the peoples home phone and broadband company, and a proud supporter of TreeHouse since 2005.