Leo Starrs-Cunningham

The image is one of my prints, entitled ‘The Immanent Eschatology of Sun Wukong.’ Sun Wukong was the Monkey King in the tale ‘Journey to the West’ - he signifies, to me, self-realisation through the combination of intellect and adaptation. I have many qualifications (2 undergrad degrees, 2 post-grads, and a Masters of Law, among others). I have held professional management positions (I was also sponsored to study Management Finance at Harvard); and have many successes to my name (for example: I have worked with the European Commission; as a practising artist I have had my work shown (and later held) by the IPCNY in New York, and taken part in exhibitions in the UK, Europe and North America). However, if I mention my autism first, I never get to the interview stage for jobs. I am a person of many and varied abilities and skills, and when asked, I always say “having an Autism Spectrum Condition should not be seen as a hindrance to employability - I am an asset, not a liability."