Autism remains a relatively unknown disability. Health reporter Sarah Cole met a young Hampshire man who has overcome Asperger's syndrome - a type of autism - to land his dream job...

FROM an early age, James Flecknor knew he was different. As a schoolboy, he struggled to make friends, had concentration problems and often got into trouble.

It was only at the age of 11 that he was finally diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism.

The news followed three years of appointments with educational psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. For his family, it was a huge relief to know what was wrong.

But, with just three months before James was due to start senior school, they faced some difficult decisions.

Initially, his parents Sandy and Roger Flecknor, had fought to keep him in mainstream schooling.

When Hampshire County Council education officers recommended sending James away to a special school, it was crunch time.

Swalcliffe Park School near Banbury in Oxfordshire was a 200-mile round-trip, and James would only be allowed home every other weekend.

It was a heart-wrenching time but Sandy and Roger decided it was the right way forward. After James' problems at primary school, they feared things could only have got worse at senior school.

That autumn, James was enrolled - and immediately loved his new surroundings.

Recalling his days at Curdridge Primary School, James, now 20, said: "I didn't really know what was going on.

"I felt I didn't fit in but hoped it was just a phase. My teachers didn't really understand me.

"It felt like I shouldn't really have been there."

When James swapped schools, he found himself in a class of eight as opposed to 30, offering one-to-one attention and private work stations.

"I decided I had two options - to give it a go, or to sit in a corner being a loner. I chose the first option," said James.

"It was such a small school that you got to know everyone quickly."

James spent eight years at Swalcliffe Park, exceeding all expectations by obtaining six GCSE's before going on to study retail and distribution, and later sport and recreation at college. One of his proudest moments was being picked to play basketball in the 1999 Thames Valley Youth Games.

Mum Sandy, 58, said: "Sending James to boarding school was a very hard decision.

"But when he went, it was a relief. Things had been very difficult and it provided us with some respite.

"We missed James at home but it was reassuring to know he was so happy there. He told us it felt just like going home.

"Going there was a totally reverse situation for him; he had gone from being the odd one out at primary school to being one of the best pupils at his new school."

Coming home to Curdridge after eight years was difficult for James as well as Sandy and Roger, 62, who also have an older son and daughter.

Living in the country with no friends nearby, James missed his fellow students and staff.

He spent several months unemployed before being referred to the Millennium Volunteers, who arranged a placement for him at the Dynamo Gym in Hedge End.

Sport had always been his first love and in 18 months James clocked up 400 hours' of work - double what was intended.

Since then, James has also taken up coaching disabled adults in basketball.

Then last year, after responding to an advertisement in the Daily Echo, James was taken on as a playworker at Thornhill Youth Centre in Southampton.

Although part-time, the post is paid and James adores it.

He has also started volunteer work at an evening youth club and hopes to work at a playscheme being planned for the summer.

James loves working with children. It has helped widen his social circle and he is also learning to drive.

He has come a long, long way.

Sandy, a member of Hampshire Autistic Society, stresses there are still bad days but overall things are far better.

"James is beginning to integrate more. Sometimes he will still interpret things wrongly and get upset, but he has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."

ASPERGER'S SYNDROME: THE FACTS

Autism is a lifelong disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them.

Although identified in 1943, it remains a relatively unknown disability.

Autistic spectrum disorders are estimated to touch the lives of more than 500,000 families throughout the UK.

People with autism are not physically disabled; they do not require wheelchairs and look just like anybody without a disability.

Because an autistic child looks "normal", others often assume they are naughty or the parents are not controlling the child.

Children and adults with autism have difficulty relating to others in a meaningful way.

Autistic people have a limited ability to develop friendships or understand other people's emotional expression, and share a difficulty in making sense of the world.

Asperger's syndrome is a form of autism used to describe people usually at the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum.

Specialist education and structured support can really make a different to the life of a person with autism, helping to maximise skills and achieve full potential in adulthood.