Paddy McGuinness has described the moment he was left speechless by a total stranger's comment about his children in a car park.
Speaking on the BBC and Sky news this morning, the comedian described the moment he was told his children 'don't look disabled' by a stranger in a car park.
The 48-year-old said a man looked at him him for pulling into a disabled spot and had said of the presenter's children: "They don't look disabled."
READ MORE: Families told to 'stay in their homes' as dogs attack man in street
Paddy said he "took a deep breath" and explained the situation to the man, he told the BBC: "I think things like that are important to sort of educate people and let them know exactly why you're in that disabled spot, but that's only a tiny little thing."
Speaking on Sky news he added: "I've had to educate a bloke there that has clearly been judgemental at why we were parking there even though we had a blue badge.
"He said 'they don't look disabled' , you know, you've got to bite your lip in those circumstances."
The TV presenter, who has three children who have autism, also spoke of the importance of educating people on the condition, as he backed the launch of the UK's largest study into autism.
The work by Cambridge researchers is aiming to achieve better levels of support and understanding for autistic people.
The Spectrum 10K project will recruit 10,000 autistic people from across the UK to boost understanding of how biological and environmental factors impact on them, organisers say.
The project will be carried out by Cambridge's world-leading Autism Research Centre (ARC) in conjunction with the nearby genetics research body the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Researchers say the study will examine the different needs of people with autism, many of whom have additional conditions including epilepsy, anxiety and depression.
He told BBC Breakfast: "It is a postcode lottery and that needs to change."
He added: "One of the biggest things for any parent, who's struggling as well, who does eventually get the diagnosis, is then it's kind of a little bit like 'right, you've got your diagnosis, now what?'
"There's not things in place quickly for parents, I feel, to support them. But again, like I say, it just depends on where you live in the country and that definitely needs to change."
The comic also told of his frustration at the low level of employment of autistic people in the UK.
He said: "It's so frustrating to me that there's one in five people in the UK with autism actually in employment. Things like that need to be changed because people with autism can contribute to so many things."
To find out more, visit www.spectrum10k.org.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
