Born in Sri Lanka in 1979, his life is mainly characterised by a rollercoaster of events that could have come straight from the script of a film. It led him to where he is today…

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At the age of 11, during the conflict in Sri Lanka, the young Anton, fled with his parents to India, where they left him stranded and alone. He returned to Sri Lanka 2 years later, and at one point, he roamed the streets on his own.. homeless. He found a safe place with a school teacher. 

 

Anton struggled with constant aversions to light and sound,  to only later realize that he had autism. He consulted various medical practitioners who conducted tests and brain scans but none of them could find the underlying cause of his headaches and why he was not responding to medication. 

 

Because of so many events happening in his young life, little Anton grew up fast. At the age of 16, for the second time, he had to leave his home country and on his own he left to Canada.. A new chapter in his life. 

 

Within few days after his arrival, his headaches disappear mysteriously. But when the summer came around, it was back in full force.

It was then at the age of 17, that a connection was made to sensory processing and autism. He couldn’t accept it at that time. 

 

At schools he was bullied and he had to change school 4 times to complete secondary. Finally, at the age of 18, a Canadian doctor, officially diagnosed him with autism.

 

In the years that followed, he learned he had other severe medical conditions including Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. From the age of 11 he had been without any parental care, and there was no one who could help him. Those days, little to no knowledge of autism was available. However Anton, coming from a family with a medical background, decided to obtain a doctorate, specializing in children with special needs.   

 “I didn’t want other kids to go through the same thing as me” he said. 

 

This decision lead him to travel across USA, and finally to the UK.  With full devotion he immersed himself in numerous courses and trainings and was finally rewarded with many master’s degrees and a doctorate. 

 

He has a wealth of knowledge in children with special needs and inclusion through his post-graduate studies. More importantly he knows what is to be a person with autism, and how to be resilient.

 

When he visited Sri Lanka for his wedding 7 years ago, he saw a boy who had shut himself out of the group. He recognised the behaviour immediately and inquired about him from his parents. He learnt that doctors had used an IQ test to diagnose the child with autism. 

 

Anton explained “ That was the moment I decided  that I had to return to my homeland. I realised that there were still pieces missing, and i wanted to make a difference  to a large part of the community that was still in the dark”

 

The eventful life of this passionate Sri Lankan formed the basis for The Tree House, a school where he will work with a team of specialists for every child with special needs.

 

Dr. Anton says -  “No child is the same, that also applies to children with special needs. Every child at the Tree House deserves an approach and treatment that suits them and provide them with approved evidence based therapy in the UK and NHS,  and FDA approved therapy in the USA.