Sybil Elgar (10 June 1914 – 8 January 2007) was the first special-education teacher for those with
autism
The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
in the United Kingdom.
In 1962, she began a school for autistic children in the basement of her London home.
She helped to found the
National Autistic Society
The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, serv ...
, whose first school for pupils with autism was later named the Sibyl Elgar School in her honour.
In 1974, Elgar and the parents of some of her students founded the first residential community for adults with autism, Somerset Court in
Brent Knoll
Brent Knoll is a hill on the Somerset Levels, in Somerset, England. It is located roughly halfway between Weston-super-Mare and Bridgwater, from the Bristol Channel coast at Burnham-on-Sea. At the foot of the hill are two villages East Brent an ...
, Somerset.
She was appointed
MBE in 1975, and in 1984 she retired.
Elgar died on 8 January 2007 at the age of 92.
See also
*
National Autistic Society
The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, serv ...
References
External links
Sybil Elgar school (www.nas.org.uk)Sybil Elgar school (www.autism.org.uk)
2007 deaths
British educational theorists
Members of the Order of the British Empire
1914 births
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