Anna Kennedy OBE is excited to announce another member will be joining the ever-growing AKO charity family.
Kellie Barker founder of Born Anxious is a homegrown clothing label mother of Oscar, an autistic child living in Herne Bay, Kent. Kellie set up the clothing label in 2018 with two main objectives, which were to make the clothes as comfortable as possible, whilst also remaining planet friendly and to hold important information that will aim to help not only the child, but also the caregiver.
At 18 months old Oscar was given the diagnosis of autism, global delay and absence epilepsy. Now five, Oscar faces many difficulties, one of which is wearing clothes with uncomfortable labels sewn into the seams, which causes discomfort and also itching.
Following Oscar’s diagnosis, Kellie grew more familiar with children and adults who have disabilities and autism and noticed they all have their very own traits and needs, just like Oscar. This gave her the inspiration to set up Born Anxious and what she could do for children, parents, and caregivers to make life just a little bit easier.
Oscar is also pre-verbal and can display unpredictable behaviours and reactions to the world surrounding him, which becomes difficult within a community that may not understand that he needs a wider birth than others. Kellie’s clothing ranges come with messages printed on the clothing such as: “BEE KIND, I HAVE AUTISM”, “I’M ANXIOUS”, “MY MUM’S WINGING IT”, “I DON’T LIKE LOUD NOISE”. Bespoke messages, personal to the parent and child can also be printed on the clothing and accessory range.
Kellie Barker said; As an Autism mum myself I have tried to be as generic as possible in design and cover the whole spectrum, whilst remaining Gender Neutral, I carefully thought about what would work for my own son and decided to remove all labels by hand. Born Anxious is a brand which raises Awareness of Autism and invisible disabilities in two ways, it can be worn to inform, or it can be worn in support. All Born Anxious clothing have the inside labels removed, to make the items more comfortable to wear”.
As well as supporting Autism and special needs, Born Anxious is pleased and proud to be official supporters of AnnaKennedyonline, Kent Portage Service, The Kent Autistic Trust and SNAAP, Kent based charities supporting people with special needs and their families.
Kellie shares :
‘I am honoured to be selected as a Charity Champion for the Anna Kennedy Online Charity and have supported the Charity since 2018. I have attended amazing charity events that mark inspirational people within the community and celebrate talents of autistic children and adults.
I am very happy to be welcomed into the AKO family as its made up of very special group of people who are committed to open doors for Autistic People’
