Tate Papworth
Anita Aherne is a mum on a mission.
The Taylors Lakes resident is a mum of four children – two girls and one son, aged 19, 17 and 15-years-old. Her fourth child passed away as a baby.
Her son was diagnosed with Autism when he was 12 years old.
“Because he was diagnosed at an older age, we were thrown into a world not knowing where to get information,” Ms Aherne said.
“So I started looking online and found some amazing organisations that really helped… but it occurred to me that there needed to be one place for all these resources.”
So after much work, Ms Aherne launched Australia’s first national Autism directory in December.
“With an estimated one in seven children being autistic there was an overwhelming need to consolidate all the fantastic resources available into one spot, so I formed Kids on the Spectrum – Australian Autism directory, Australia’s first national Autism directory,” she said.
“We’ve had an enormous amount of people coming to us telling us fantastic things and we’ve grown the network to 240 organisations listed at the moment.”
In recognition of her work, Ms Aherne has been nominated for four AusMumpreneur Awards.
The awards celebrate and recognise Australian mums in business achieving outstanding success in areas such as business excellence, product development, customer service and digital innovation.
The awards are designed to recognise the growing number of women who successfully balance motherhood and business in a way that suits their life and family.
“I was very fortunate that someone put in a nomination for me,” Ms Aherne said.
“I had to do a submission, which was judged and I found out I’m a finalist in four categories.
“I’m really excited… we’ve got judging next Friday and it will be great to see if other people think the work I’ve done worthy.”
For more information visit: www.kidsonthespectrum.com.au.
