How one young Spurs fan is raising awareness of neurodivergence in football

Local TV Sport

Young Tottenham Hotspur supporter Harry Scarfe has autism and is campaigning for better awareness for those with the condition who love attending and watching football across the country. Daniel Wales reports.

Transcript

00:00So, I'm Harry Scarfe. I'm a football content creator and YouTuber. I'm also autistic, so I'm an advocate for autism as well.

00:08I have my own channel, Scarfe Spurs Talk, which has gone really well.

00:11For 15-year-old Harry Scarfe, football and content creation are his passions.

00:17As a young person with autism, he has challenged the status quo and has not let his condition hold him back

00:23and is now wanting to spread awareness and inclusion further.

00:28Generally, a lot of people have heard of autism, but they don't understand how it works, how it affects people differently.

00:33So, you know, for me, my passion has always been football.

00:37So, to be able to link the two is absolutely fantastic.

00:40And there's so many autistic people, you know, maybe they're neglected by the system and a load of different things.

00:46And I just think that some of you need people to stand up for them, you know, raise points on their behalf.

00:53Because, you know, for example, you look at the diagnosis waiting list in England, we're looking at about 187,000 at the moment.

00:59People don't get an autism diagnosis. That means they're not getting the help, support or need that they deserve.

01:05There's that barrier of getting an autism diagnosis.

01:08Then there's the barrier of getting the HCP to be able to claim that, you know, support.

01:13For example, score one on one that you need and get you in an SEN score or whatever help you need if you're stuck in mainstream, for example.

01:20So there's a lot that needs to be done.

01:22So where did Harry's journey in campaigning for autism awareness in football begin?

01:27And how has it developed in that time so far?

01:31So it really started, I met this guy called Barney on X. He was a Fulham fan.

01:36We just exchanged a conversation over Spurs and Fulham.

01:39And then I found out he was autistic and had the same passion.

01:42He was like, you know, we both kind of realised quite quickly that we were frustrated with the way generally autistic people are misunderstood

01:51and et cetera. So we just kind of got talking. It's really come on from then.

01:54Since we formed a collaboration, we met up and discussed ideas.

01:58We've had the privilege since then to work with other football clubs at Fulham and Tottenham.

02:02That's been an absolute pleasure and learn really interesting what they do around accessibility and what more they can do.

02:09I look forward to working with them as well and other football clubs and just generally sports clubs as well to start with.

02:14And then hopefully we'll move on from there and open up a bit.

02:18But no, it's been really good. That's how it started, really.

02:21Harry then explained why his work is of such importance to others who are neurodivergent,

02:26who love attending and watching football matches across the country.

02:31It's more a case of a lot of people, you know, at SEN attend things like football matches and different things like that.

02:40And if you think about it, I mean, it might not be to me or you, but if you do like dissect it,

02:44it is quite an overwhelming experience for them, whether it be the noise, what they see,

02:48especially someone who's come as a first time. So little things that I've been trying to push for,

02:52like sensory packs, sensory rooms, expanding sensory rooms, all improves a match day experience.

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