Naturally Autistic ANCA

Awards AD

Our International Awards honor and celebrate the accomplishments, talents and abilities of autistic people throughout the world. We welcome members of autistic communities everywhere to participate in this event. The general public is invited to experience firsthand the real life potential of autistic people in our communities.

Our awards and convention also feature successful autistic adults conducting workshops in their area of expertise.

Who should attend:

Meet and engage like minded people sharing a wealth of talent and abilities.

Experience for yourself what others on the autistic spectrum are doing and saying.

Find encouragement, support and motivation to pursue your dreams.

A great way to learn from the experiences of autistic parents raising their own children.

Discover the real life potential of people on the autistic spectrum.

Learn from others who have traveled the journey that is autism.

Find out what autistic adults are saying and how their understanding – “From the Inside Out” – can help you better understand and serve others on the spectrum.

A unique and valuable opportunity to move beyond theory; and experience first hand the talents and abilities of autistic people young and old.

Reach beyond the daily news stories – meet the people, listen to what they have to say, what they have to offer.

Experience for yourself what it means to be autistic.

History in brief:

For 16 years, Naturally Autistic^® ANCA^® held annual presentation events for participants, families and the local community – through various venues such as shadow puppet theatre, musical performances, public speaking and the arts. These events demonstrated the accomplishments of autistic children, teens and young adults. The local community got to see firsthand what autistic people ‘can do’ when supported naturally.

2010 marked the first year of opening the event to the International Autistic Community. The inaugural International Naturally Autistic® People Awards was held at UBC Robson Square Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia on October 30, 2010. These awards were created to honor the accomplishments of autistic individuals, their supporters and organizations that support autistic people; and showcased entries from Canada, the United States and Australia. The Award Recipients and selected Art Submissions were shown at the ceremony and appeared in the First Issue of Naturally Autistic^® magazine.

This was the first award show of its kind in the world – a testament to the great things achieved by the dedicated work of Leonora Gregory-Collura and Charlie Collura at ANCA over the past sixteen years and as they look forward to opening the doors to the world.

Leonora Gregory-Collura states, “We must start ‘bridging the gap in our understanding of what it is to be autistic or to have autism and in so doing, raise the awareness for the children and families in the next generation to come, not with fear of the unknown but with knowledge of what is known – what is know from the autistic people themselves. Autistic children do grow to be adults. Isolation has proven not to work, inclusion with other children, peer interaction and learning through play – a right to be bestowed to all human beings – is a proven objective for all children to grow, develop and learn to participate equally in society.”