| Philosophy | The ‘Now I Know’ campaign by the National Autistic Society spotlights the lives of autistic women and non-binary people to improve the understanding of autism. Through the lens of personal experience, the campaign by Ogilvy Health aims to increase awareness of late diagnosis and encourage others to share their story. The UK’s leading charity for autistic people collaborated with world-renowned photographer Rankin and his team, which was led by Alex Heron, an autistic photographer. Due to gender stereotypes and lack of understanding, autistic women and non-binary people can often be overlooked and live without a diagnosis late in life, which can have severe negative impacts on mental and physical wellbeing. Research suggests the numbers of autistic men and women are more equal than previously thought, with the most up to date estimated ratio of autistic men to women being 3:1. The series of images and VOD was inspired by the words of Dawn Mills, who was diagnosed at the age of 56 and features in the campaign. She said: “I always knew who I was, now I know why I am.” Alex Heron, an autistic photographer from Rankin’s team, worked with each participant to photograph them in spaces which reflect their personalities and individual interests. The unique element of this campaign is a photography set up which included a shutter-release cable so that each person could be in control of capturing their image. The campaign therefore symbolises each person actively taking control of their image and a moment in time on their autism journey that reflects when they finally knew they were autistic. |