What are issues?

Well, they're the things that form the core of your beliefs and feelings. What makes you happy or sad? Angry or enthused? Below are a few of the things I feel strongly about and why I feel strongly.

Adoption and Abortion

I have incredibly strong feelings in regards to these two subjects and feel that they are deeply intertwined. A few years ago, some close friends of mine decided to adopt a child and asked me to be Godfather. This honour was then bestowed on me again, when my friends adopted again.

There are millions of couples worldwide waiting desperately for a child and these needs could be met if people would give consideration to offering their unborn up for adoption as an option. It seems to me that this option is rarely considered - it is too inconvenient, there would be too many questions, and there would be a loss of control over the destiny of their progeny.

This is a shame and I can only imagine what people making the decision go through but it is a vital and important option and should not be ignored.

For some, there may be a belief that it is hard on the child to discover that they are adopted (or if others discover it) and this factors into their decision. I see this as an extension of the loss of control many feel they have and simply shouldn't. If more people saw this as a passing over of responsibility rather than a loss of control, it may be easier to accept that6 this is a valuable option.

There are many famous adoptees (as well as adopters). Visit Adoption.com (http://celebrities.adoption.com/) and find that Ingrid Bergman, John Lennon, Mark Twain, Nelson Mandela, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, Charles Dickens and many, many others were adopted. Now political leanings aside, it could not be argued that this very short list of people have made a real contribution to society in their own ways. Adoption worked out pretty well for them, I'd say.

I absolutely adore my Godchildren, and I wish for them everything they could ever want. They're growing up as loved and cared for as any children I've known with their birth parents. There are millions out there just as loved and vital but there could be millions more.

Autism

For my final year project I decided that I wanted to do something worthwhile. I researched various subjects until it became clear that I had a real interest in Autism. The project eventually developed and the grade was enough to keep me in the 2:1 scale. I was extremely happy, not only with the final grade but with the knowledge I'd taken in during the course of my research. I could not have done so well without the help and support of Thomas Bewick School - as school where many of the students were on the Autism Spectrum. It was without a doubt the most personally rewarding part of my university life.

Autism is a deeply misunderstood spectrum, where people are affected in many different ways. Many people do not realise what Autism really is, and for a long time it was dismissed as bad behaviour or in even less enlightened times as retardation. My time with the students at Thomas Bewick School was a real eye opener because I learned that neither was true - these children were as vital and intelligent as any other children.

The current climate in the UK is of placing students back into mainstream schools. This is a very worrying situation because often those with Autism are already feeling misunderstood and disenfranchised from their experiences in mainstream schools and are not really ready for it. A copy of my dissertation can be downloaded here for those interested in learning more. I may in the future make the prototype software I developed available for those interested.