Daryl Giles

I’m Daryl Giles but often I’m just referred to as ‘Daniel’s Dad’. My son Daniel Giles OAM is autistic so I stepped into the autism community when he was born some 30+ years ago.
In 2017, I began sharing our story with Daniel through our business, Speaking Insights. We travel all over Australia and sometimes abroad, doing public speaking about our family’s autism journey. I love doing this with Daniel and in particular, I love the way it further connects me to the amazing people in the autism community, many of whom have become what I call ‘our autism family’.

For the past year or so, I have been privileged to support the Different Journeys, Teen Peer Support Group in Bendigo and love seeing the personal growth of the teens who come along. Similarly, I love seeing local men who care for someone who is autistic, come together and provide informal support to each other at the Blokes’ Dinners.

I am excited that Different Journeys is giving me the opportunity to further support the autism community including both autistic individuals and their carers, and I am grateful for the friendships and connections that I am making through this.

Away from the autism community, I am a gardening contractor and love being outdoors and seeing my clients’ gardens come back to life with a little care and attention.
Before starting my gardening business, I was a paralegal for 35 years running the Bendigo office of a law firm.