At an autism support group today we were treated to a visit from the BBC to give us a sneak preview of a new show they're creating for CBeebies called 'Pablo', aiming to start airing in October 2017.

It's about an autistic boy called Pablo and the challenges he faces with his friends (for example going to a party, getting a hair cut etc.). The friends are characters he draws in artwork and each character represents a possible aspect of autism. This cleverly allows them to demonstrate some variety, instead of just presenting a one size fits all representation of autism. The big problem with trying to describe autism is that everyone is so different - you can have people who are complete opposites with autism just as you can with any member of the human race, each autistic person has their own unique presentation of autism that affects them in a different way. So having multiple characters showing different aspects is good!

It's fun and engaging and doesn't shove autism in your face, it probably won't even mention autism by name at all. So in many ways it will ultimately be about friendship and how everyone struggles with different things, and overcoming those struggles together.

Before showing us a completed animation sequence (it's bookended with live action which wasn't ready yet) we got to see a short film of behind the scenes - which was great because we got to find out just how many autistic people were involved in the production - and it's lots, including the starring actor playing 'Pablo' himself, and lots of the voice talent for the animated characters.