I was invited to be a guest speaker at Easton & Otley College for their prize giving day which involved a lot of photos and handshaking as I also had to present awards to all the students.

It was brilliant to be part of an event such as this, celebrating some remarkable and well earned achievements and the hard work of all the students. 

Click here to see the speech I gave.

On the 13th June I was at the Excel Arena in London for the Autism Show. I had a short speech on some of the challenges I had faced over the last few months and some of the things I had still achieved.

It is always good to be part of Autism's Got Talent and an Anna Kennedy Online event. On this occasion I shared the stage with some fantastic performers including Callum Abbiss and Marie Gorton (pictured to the right).

To see my speech click here.

On the 7th June the Artist's of Autism exhibition opened in Wakefield. This was an exhibition put together by my friend and AKO events photographer, Karen McGuire fondly known as Yorkshire Pudding.

Karen had pulled together pieces of art, poetry and other pieces of information on talented individuals on the spectrum from across the world in what can only be described as an epic exhibition.

On the opening day which I was able to attend, Alex Lowery gave a short presentation about autism, there was a raffle and some videos shown, including my 'In Good Company' video. I also had my own section with some of kickboxing achievements listed and a few poems I wrote on show. The exhibition was open until the end of July. 

On the 10th May it was time for Autism's Got Talent. On this occasion I was there as a patron for Anna Kennedy Online and invited on stage to share a few words about what I had been up to since last year.

Yet again Autism's Got Talent was a huge hit with acts coming from overseas to perform and celebrity presenters on hand to introduce acts. Autism's Got Talent is all about the performers and the fantastic talents and abilities they have which may sometimes be overlooked. Autism's Got Talent takes that person who more often than not is put to one side, underestimated and undervalued and gives them the platform to shine as the person they are and celebrated for what they are good at.

Over this year it has been a privilege to get to know Owen Cordwell. Owen presented a cheque to Anna Kennedy Online last year at Autism's Got Talent where I spoke after completing a 25K bike ride. This year Owen upped his challenge to 50K, Owen is 11 years old and has diagnoses of autism and ADHD. He chose to fundraise for AKO because of the help and support they give to his family and other families like his.

Owen is my friend. So I helped to promote his fundraising page and was there to support him complete his challenge and cheer him on. It was a great day with Anna, Austin and Owen's family and friends all there to support Owen. Owen managed to raise £733.75. Well done Owen!

In the run up to Owen's challenge, we had great fun making a short promo video to explain why he undertook the challenge and show off his biking skills. Click here to watch this video.

On World Autism Awareness Day, Anna Kennedy and I attended the launch of the In Good Company project.

This is a video project by charity Red2Green which features videos of adults on the autism spectrum talking about their lives. The aim of the videos is to give a better insight into autism spectrum conditions and what it is like to live with them.

I was asked to be interviewed for a video and mine was made back in August 2013. It was great to see the end product and be able to share that.

I was asked to speak at the special interest group conference for speech and language therapists specialising in autistic spectrum disorders.

My presentation was for an hour and covered my experiences growing up and the communication challenges I faced. I wanted to really get across that even though when speaking to an audience I appeared really articulate and confident, this hadn't always been the case and that on one on one situations or informal group settings I could really struggle, even to express my basic needs.

I think this presentation went really well. 

At the start of March I was in Ireland for the Irish Open and unfortunately when in the quarter finals fighting the eventual winner I suffered a severe ankle sprain which meant I could no longer carry on competing.

I was absolutely devastated as I had been right on form in the competition up until this point and the fight had just got going. I was also the fittest and strongest I had ever been but my attempt to win the Irish Open in 2014 ended up with a trip to the Irish hospital, some severe ankle swelling and a pair of crutches!

To read my blog post about my injury at the Irish Open please click here.

On 15th February I competed in the WAKO British Championships in the women's light contact, hoping to retain my title from last year. I struggle in tournament environments due to sensory issues and not knowing when I will fight. At this time I had been struggling a lot with extra stress and anxiety than usual so the environment was a little more challenging this time.

However I performed really well on the mat and used my fights as 'therapy' for the frustrations I had been experiencing and was rewarded with my second consecutive WAKO British title.

We got a puppy!!!!!

My little Oscar came home on the 5th January at 7 weeks old. Such a cute sleepy little labrador. 

I had wanted a dog of my own for years and Oscar finally joined the household to help me with routine and structure.