Charlie Michael Baker The Phenomenal 16 Year Old Changing The World
Not many teenagers have written a book or raise £400,000 for charities. 16 year old boy, Charlie Michael Baker has done both. He is the the teenager changing the world. Bullied all throughout his school years, Charlie has to deal with being put in a glass box room by his school away from the other children so they didn’t have to deal with his bullies. Bullying left him feeling suicidal.
Despite all he has been through Charlie wrote his biography – Charlie Baker; Autism And Me which has sold 600,000 copies and raised £400,000 for autism charities.
Published in March 2023 the book was to shine a light on bullying and how autistic people are treated.
We think Charlie is phenomenal and have had the pleasure of speaking to him.
Read on for our conversation with the boy changing the world.
Photo: Charlie Michael Baker/Charlie Michael Baker with his book.
1.Charlie it is a pleasure to speak to you. Could you please tell us a bit about your story till date?
I’m Charlie Michael Baker, the teen behind Charlie Baker: Autism And me. I wrote and published my book last March (2023) to shine a light on bullying and how autistic people are treated.
2. Could you share your experience with bullying?
I was bullied throughout my whole school life, I never had any friends. My autism made it hard for me to socialise and make new friends, so I just was on my own all the time. Bullies saw that as an opportunity. It’s sad. But it’s a sad reality for many.
3. What you have been through is unacceptable. I am so sorry that this was your lived experience. It is incredible that despite all this you wrote a book. What was your greatest takeaway from it
My greatest takeaway from writing and publishing my book was actually doing it. People said I couldn’t, I shouldn’t, I wouldn’t. And I did. No matter how many people tell you that you can’t, you can!
4. You are a teen who changed the world. Why was this important to you?
It was always important to me to help other people. It’s just the way I was brought up. I was always told be kind, be respectful, be honest. My book has helped many and I hope it helps many more to come!
5. What would you like us to know about autism?
No two people with autism are the same, equally, no two people without it are the same either. Treat people with respect and take a slow approach with everyone.
6. What autism charities can we support?
I really love (Un)masked. (Un)masked is a charity owned by Ellie Midds and I love them to bits!! Their work is incredible.
7. Can you share a last word?
Bullying awareness is so so so important. You see it everywhere, it’s just become ‘normalised’. The school I went to, Brompton Academy, was the worst for it. I was bullied so much in that school to they put me into a ‘fishbowl’ room with no work secluded away from everyone. I was 13 when they did that. 13 years old I was locked away from everyone else, just because they didn’t want to discipline them all! I left that school when I was 14 and went to a school 30 minutes away from Brompton Academy. It was a specialised school, it was so much different. The teachers treated me so differently there. They were nice, friendly and CALM! I was only there for two weeks unfortunately until we moved up to Lancashire (by Manchester). Over 40% of young people that are bullied have suicidal thoughts. In 2016, ditch the label revealed that over 1.5million young people were subject to bullying, 19% of them were bullied every. single. day. Those statistics are probably much higher now due to social media usage. That’s why we’ve had to turn the comments off on my posts. I had people threatening to kill me over the publicity from my book. People are nasty. It’s not you, it’s a reflection of their own struggles. That’s what we’re always told. We shouldn’t have to put up with it.
Charlie Michael Baker is incredible and we know he will continue to change the world. Discover his book here.
Charlie is on Instagram here.