THE WEST WING - COLE FIGHTS FOR AUTISM AWARENESS

THE WEST WING star GARY COLE has joined the campaign to raise awareness about autism after signing up to star in public service announcements in America.

The actor, who has a 12-year-old autistic daughter, wants other parents to realise that autism, which effects speech and social behaviour, isn't necessarily a curse or a burden.

He says, "You play with the cards that you're dealt. I don't like to think of it (autism) as any kind of a disability or anything like that; I think of it as another way of thinking or perceiving and my job, I felt, was to try to perceive everything, on some level, through her (daughter's) eyes so I could know what it was like to walk in her shoes."