Jonathan Raiseborough, 18, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, has now been made an ambassador of the North East Autism Society (NEAS) after illustrating 'Snowdrop The Spikeshuffler'.
The book, written by children’s author and former newspaper editor Peter Barron, is about a little albino hedgehog who overcomes prejudice in the animal kingdom to emerge as a hero after being befriended by an eagle called Godric.
It has been published nationally with the support of NEAS to underline the message about how the talents of autistic people should not be overlooked.
As a little boy, Jonathan was bullied and found it hard to forge friendships due to his autism. In the book, Snowdrop is picked on by other animals because of his colour. Therefore, the underlying message in the story is: Don’t judge someone just because they’re different.