A WOMAN from Menston is taking on a huge physical challenge and will be walking 30,000 steps a day to mark World Autism Acceptance Week.

Thirty-five-year-old Sarah Bradbury, who is a store manager at Mountain Warehouse will be walking 30,000 steps per day, which equates to around 15 miles in aid of the National Autistic Society - a UK based charity that supports autistic people and their families as well as s well as campaigning for improved rights, services and opportunities.

Sarah said the motivation for the challenge is her 7-year-old son who was diagnosed with autism last year. However, she added that going through the process of his diagnosis, made her realise that she could be autistic too.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Sarah on one of her walksSarah on one of her walks

She said: “I want to do this challenge to raise awareness of autism generally and hopefully it will encourage people to think about it this week and look past a lot of the misconceptions.

“There’s still the idea that autism is mostly found in boys (not true, it just presents differently in girls) and that ‘everyone is a bit autistic’ - which just isn’t true.

I also think it’s about acceptance, too. People are aware of autism but not always of how to accept an autistic person. Small things - like doing this interview via text rather than a phone call - can be a big help to autistic people.”

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people communicate and interact with the world. One in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.

However, figures suggest that for every four males that are diagnosed, only every 1 female receives a diagnosis – and it is argued that this could be down to diagnostic bias.

This week is the 60th anniversary of World Autism Acceptance Week which is dedicated to fundraising to ‘help create a society that works for autistic people.’

Sarah said she will be walking between Menston and Ilkley on her way to work, but she loves the scenery up in Calverley so she will "fit that in too."

“The challenge has been ok so far - I did 11.5 miles of it in one go yesterday,- but I might be flagging by the end of the week!” she said.

Sarah hopes to raise £100 for her chosen charity.

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