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Spectrum Gaming is a charity which provides an online community for autistic children in the United Kingdom. It was founded in May 2020 by Andy Smith, in response to the Coronavirus lockdowns in the UK which prevented face-to-face community gatherings. The community was set up as a Discord server, and became a registered charity in the United Kingdom in March 2021.[1]
| Formation | May 2020; 4 years ago |
|---|---|
| Location | |
CEO | Andy Smith |
| Website | https://www.spectrumgaming.net |
History
editSpectrum Gaming was founded by Andy Smith, a 27 year old autistic adult from Bury, Greater Manchester, who after struggling as an autistic person, met other autistic people online who grew to accept their autism diagnosis. He later decided to make it has "Life goal" to make sure that as many autistic young people as possible avoided the struggles that he grew up with. In 2017, he set up a Facebook page called 'Autistic Life', which shared educational content about autism.[2] In 2020, he then founded Spectrum Gaming in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdowns that took place, giving an online community to autistic children, which became a registered charity in 2021. This has since expanded to include face-to-face gatherings, particularly in Greater Manchester.
Spectrum Gaming also does advocacy work. This includes Autism Understood, which is a website that contains resources written and contributed by autistic people.[3] Furthermore, they have delivered a conference commissioned by Bury Council, and have delivered training to more than 2,100 people in 2023.
Awards
editIn 2022, Spectrum Gaming was nominated a BBC Make A Difference award[4]
In 2023, Founder and CEO Andy Smith received a Points of Light award by the then British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.,[5] and also received a Great Minds Together award in the 'Inspirational Professional Award' category.
References
edit- ^ "About Us". Spectrum Gaming. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Autism Understood". Autism Understood. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "BBC Radio Manchester - Make a Difference: BBC Radio Manchester, Spectrum Gaming". BBC. 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Smart, Zara (2023-06-27). "Spectrum Gaming". Points of Light. Retrieved 2024-07-12.