Brian Howe and his grandson Rafael share a special bond.
Rafael: People with autism have trouble with their social, communication, and imagination skills. Autism presents in many different ways and impacts social interaction and understanding, communication and play, imagination, sensory processing, gross/fine motor skills, obsessions and rituals, routines and executive function.
While people on the autistic spectrum present differently, all have troubles in social interaction, understanding and imagination. There is a spectrum with autism, from low to high functioning. People who are high functioning participate in society without being noticed much, while lower-functioning people are noticed more and may need more help and visibility.
Brian: There are nearly 300,000 people in Australia living with autism, and it is only now beginning to be understood by researchers despite having such a wide impact on people’s lives.
A Senate inquiry into autism in 2019 has resulted in the creation of Australia’s first National Autism Strategy (2025-31) and its first Action Plan (2025-26), a recognition of the complex impacts of autism. The strategy is based on an approach that “values the autistic voice and supports co-design, partnering and incorporating lived experience in research”.
Rafael: Autistic people can have more than 2000 social thoughts in one day, meaning they have to concentrate on social situations a lot more than people without autism. Socialising takes effort.
They have to think through their actions and try and read the other person’s thoughts. What are they thinking? What are they doing? It is very tiring. Autistic people are like mirrors. Anything said to them they will mirror back. If someone is rude that will be reflected back. If someone is nice, an autistic person will be nice.
Many people with autism have a logic-based brain, meaning they are good at things like facts, data, science and engineering, while others are more philosophical and are into things like the arts, philosophy and writing.
My experience with autism has been interesting. Many kids I know and see now have traits of autism, are on the spectrum and they struggle socially or maybe they do not get on with their parents.
My own experience with autism meant I left school at the end of Year 11 because school wasn’t something I needed. I learned to read and write but I don’t really remember anything I was taught.
Now I know about autism, it is easier to understand what can help kids on the spectrum. Treat them equally and, as parents, lessen their homework load so they can unwind. Autistic kids get home from school and are emotionally exhausted from socialising, or from the bright lights and loud corridors, and suddenly they’ve got to write a 1000-word essay.
A lot of kids do not realise they are on the spectrum, go through school and find it really hard, when they could have been given support for what they need, like less days at school, days at home, or a quiet place at school for lessons.
Brian says a national strategy is showing a strong commitment to an approach which values the autistic voice.
Brian: In Rafael’s reflections of his lived experience of autism, he highlights the individuality of each person’s experience on the spectrum, and this is one of the reasons his contribution to Crosslight is so important.
In the design of the national strategy, there appears to be a strong commitment to implementing an approach that values the autistic voice and supports co-design, partnering and incorporating lived experience in research.
As stated on World Autism Awareness Day, we need a greater understanding in the community to support Australians on the autism spectrum because we “know that better understanding of autism is key to removing barriers, building empathy and fostering a more inclusive society”.
Rafael: Autistic people are fun to talk with. They act like everyone else, but if you spend time with them, you may notice slight differences. I know some people with autism who are very nice and understanding, and some who come across as unfriendly. But I know this is because autistic people think factually.
But then when you spend time with them, they will smile. Autistic people may not show a lot of facial features because it requires effort but you know they are happy.
Talk to an autistic person, and (you will) find they are engaging and interesting.
Brian: Churches and other faith communities will have a role to play in implementing the new strategy. There will be young people with autism in their communities, especially in youth groups and schools, that may benefit from this Australia-wide strategy designed to identify and support the wide reach of autism.
The national strategy is also an opportunity for churches and faith communities to develop ways to give people, especially affected younger people, a voice in designing support services.
Churches and faith communities may be especially important in areas where English is often not the first language spoken, or in more remote Aboriginal communities where churches and sometimes other faith communities provide services and programs.
Brian and his wife Renate have been a powerful force for good in social justice.
Family, fun and photos
Spend just a few minutes with Brian Howe and his grandson Rafael and it’s clear the two share a special bond.
They also share a capacity for great mischief, and love nothing better than playfully stirring each other.
Rafael loves to get a reaction from Brian and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve to gain grandad’s attention.
Many of those tricks were on full display as the pair took part in a recent photo shoot for Crosslight magazine.
As a former Deputy Prime Minister, Uniting Church Minister, academic and social justice advocate, Brian is no stranger to intellectual discourse and thinking quickly on his feet.
If truth be told, though, on this particular occasion he often met his match when it came to verbal jousting with the grandson he affectionately calls Raf.
Watching on with amusement was Brian’s wife Renate, the other half of a dynamic partnership which has left an indelible mark on community and social justice in Melbourne.
As an academic, writer, historian, and community advocate, Renate spent many years at the coalface improving the lives of many of Melbourne’s marginalised citizens.
In 1971, while at Fitzroy Methodist Church, Brian and Renate set up the Centre for Urban Research and Action, which tackled issues around homelessness, the demolition of housing for high-rise public housing estates, freeway construction, the rights of tenants, the marginalisation of ethnic groups, and inadequate social services.
Supported by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Wesley Central Mission and activist inner-suburban residents associations, CURA participated in effective campaigns against the redevelopment plans of Victoria’s powerful government bureaucracies.
In a 2017 interview with The Fitzroy History Society, Brian said the inspiration for CURA had come from his time in Chicago, where he studied at McCormick Theological Seminary from 1965-67.
“I’m interested in the (American activist Saul) Alinsky philosophy of community organisation,” Brian said in the interview.
“Community organisation was kind of a bit stronger than community development because it represented, I suppose, more of a conflictual approach, more recognising that to get change sometimes you needed to have demonstration.”
Brian and Renate’s fascinating interview with The Fitzroy History Society can be found here
