02/04/2026
Today is World Autism Acceptance Day! 🌈 💚
A day to celebrate autistic people, autistic voices, and the beauty in thinking differently.
My name is Rebecca and I’m 38 years old. I’m AuDHD (autistic and ADHD).
I’m the proud mum of an incredible autistic boy, and my son is the reason The Glowsticks Project exists 💚
Before I was ever a founder or a chair of a charity, I was just a mum trying to understand how the world could feel so hard for such an amazing child. Watching him navigate spaces that weren’t built for him changed me. It made me realise how easily confidence can be chipped away when you’re misunderstood, and how much difference the right environment can make; and before that, I was a girl, and a woman, trying her best to understand why I have never fit in and never known who I was.
I was the girl who wore a St Jude necklace as he was the patron saint of hopeless caused and desperate situations - bringing comfort to those in despair - as in my head was a constant war and difficulties with my mental health.
My own journey to this point wasn’t straightforward either. Growing up feeling different but not fully understanding why. Learning to survive in a world that often felt too loud, too fast, too overwhelming. But being AuDHD is also where many of my greatest strengths come from — my deep empathy, my strong sense of justice, my determination, my creativity, and my refusal to accept a world that leaves people behind.
Glowsticks was built from that place -
From lived experience.
From love.
From the quiet promise I made to myself that I would try to build a world where my son - and young people like him - wouldn’t just be accepted, but truly understood.
Today I get to see young people walk through our doors nervous and unsure, and slowly become confident, capable, and proud of who they are. I get to see parents breathe out because their child has finally found somewhere they belong.
I didn’t build Glowsticks because I’m extraordinary... I built it because my son is.
And he deserves a world that sees his strengths, not just his struggles.
So today, I stand proud.
As an AuDHD woman.
As a neurodivergent leader.
As an advocate.
But most importantly…
As his mum.
And I will keep fighting to build a better world for him, and for every young person like him.
💚
