Bullied schoolboy, 16, who wrote book about autism donates £200,000 to charity

A teen influencer who was bullied at school has been praised for donating £200,000 to charity after writing a book about his experiences as an autist.

Charlie Baker from Leyland, Lancashire has become a best-selling author at the age of 16 after his first book, Charlie Baker: Autism And Me, became a success after hitting shelves last year.

The teen, who has more than 589,000 Instagram followers, revealed that he had been bullied since he was five years old and was not officially diagnosed with autism until he was about six years old.

In his book, he wrote, “I was bullied a lot until the end of elementary school and all through high school.

‘I was bullied for years, and that affects you much more, you think. People think that words are just words and never think about how they can influence someone.

“You really never know what someone is going through and one comment, which may seem stupid to you, can really touch them! I am very thankful and thankful for the voice and platform I have today!”

Charlie felt compelled to write the book to encourage more people to speak out about their autism struggles.

Charlie revealed that he was also inspired by Christine McGuinness, who discovered she was autistic at the age of 33.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Charlie said, “I wrote my books to help people and make them feel like they’re not alone, because they really aren’t and I’m just now realizing that.

“With my book, we did just that. A man contacted my team through my platforms and left a review of how much my books had helped him. I will take that review to the grave, it touched me so much.

“This man said he had just been diagnosed with autism. He said my book was the book that saved his life. This man was suicidal, but because autism was portrayed as “normal” in my book, he felt normal. Being neurodiverse is nothing at all to be ashamed of.’

The social media star offered advice to others who are currently dealing with bullying themselves.

His first book, Charlie Baker: Autism And Me, became a success after it hit shelves last year

He said, “Don’t deal with it alone. Tell someone, they can help. My posts are always open to anyone suffering from any form of bullying or mental health issues.

“Bullies just bully people because they see something in you that they don’t see in themselves. Bullies are jealous.”

Charlie said the best thing about autism is “being different” since so many others are just trying to mimic each other.

He said, ‘People always try to be the same as others, I think, why? Why would you want to be the same as someone else?

“I love, love, love being different and I wouldn’t change it for the world, and neither would you! Being different is good. Not bad.’

Charlie felt compelled to write the book to encourage more people to speak out about their autism struggles

Charlie added, “All proceeds from all my books go to charities that help people struggling with autism, so I don’t make any money from my books. So far we have raised over £200,000 for charities worldwide.

‘My books have reached people as far as Dubai, UAE and even an Australian cricketer has read my book!!

“I’m doing it to raise awareness of autism, not for financial gain. I did this while I was still in full-time education.

“I want to use my platform and my name to help people and encourage more people to speak out about their autism struggles.”

The teen is currently writing another book but this one is a different read and he urged his followers to keep an eye on his Instagram page. @charliemichaelbaker for updates.

“I would love to keep writing for people to read! I also have a book coming out soon, but it’s more of a different book.’