The story so far

Ambitious about Autism was founded as TreeHouse in 1997. It was founded as a specialist school for children with autism, with five pupils and based in a borrowed room in the Royal Free Hospital in North London. For the last 13 years, Ambitious about Autism has been growing and developing into the national charity that it is today, which provides services, raises awareness and influences policy.  We moved to Muswell Hill, north London, in 2004, and moved into our purpose designed building - the Pears National Centre for Autism Education - in October 2008.

Ambitious about Autism is now looking to the future, and our new ambitions for children and young people with autism and their families. The charity’s new strategy is driven by the following three themes:

• More and better services
• Awareness and understanding
• Influencing policy

Watch our Ambitious about Autism film

Our new film outlines why we are ambitious about autism and shares two different stories of families living with autism. Their experiences show why it is vitally important that we improve people’s understanding and knowledge about autism. Interspersed with the families’ stories, the film features interviews with Jon Snow, Channel 4 presenter and Ambassador for Ambitious about Autism and the author Nick Hornby who is a Vice President of Ambitious about Autism and one of the original founding parents of TreeHouse School.

Read our full strategy brochure

Read an accessible version of Our New Ambitions brochure (PDF 645KB) to find out more.