Wikipedia
Autistica, is a UK charity devoted to raising and investing funds into biomedical research and peer-reviewed studies on autism, based in London. Autistica’s stated goals include determining the causes and biological bases of autism spectrum disorders, improving diagnoses of autism, and advancing and evaluating new treatments and interventions, with an eye towards improving quality of life for people affected by autism.
Autistica was founded as 'Autism Speaks in the UK', a UK partner of Autism Speaks, in 2004 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley. The link with the US parent was severed from 1 January 2010. Autistica is registered in and operates throughout England and Wales.
The mission and goals of Autistica are distinct from those of the UK-based National Autistic Society (NAS). While Autistica concentrates its efforts on research into the causes and treatments of autism, with a view to reduce the age of diagnosis, provide effective, evidence-based treatments for people with ASD, particularly co-occurring problems, including epilepsy, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and severe maladaptive behaviours (SMB), and researching autism and ageing, the NAS focuses on the service needs of autistic individuals.