Greenock dad's little boy has inspired him and his brother-in-law to take the plunge in aid of an autism charity

Fearless father Neil McIntyre-McPhee and his brother-in-law Paul McIntyre will jump out of a plane from 10,000ft to raise funds for Scottish Autism.

The heart-in-the-mouth challenge comes after Neil's four-year-old son Cameron was diagnosed with autism last year.

Neil, 39, of Nairn Road, said: "We wanted to do the skydive to help raise awareness of children with autism and to be able to give something back.

"I'm ex-forces so I have done parachuting before - I'm really looking forward to it."

Neil's wife Michelle added: "I think it's amazing that they are going to do this, I'm really proud of them both."

Autism is a lifelong condition that affects how people communicate and interact with others.

It affects people in different ways but most autistic people see, hear and experience the world differently from people without autism.

Cameron was 18 months old when the couple noticed a change in his behaviour.

Michelle said: "Round about when he turned one, he was saying words like mum and dad.

"But when he got to 18 months his language stopped.

"He wasn't speaking at all, he would just point at what he wanted.

"Cameron also went through this wee stage of needing everything to be structured, for example he would put all his toys together and all his cars together and his action figures together.

"He went through a stage of colour co-ordinating everything - he would sit putting everything together in colours.

"He also used to touch everything, for example if he was going up the stairs, he would touch every single part of the bannister."

Michelle spoke to her health visitor about her son's behaviour as he was also punching, kicking out and biting.

Cameron was referred to a Positive Parenting Programme and started nursery at 20 months old to see if interacting with children would have a beneficial impact.

But nothing seemed to work, so Cameron was referred to the Skylark Child Development Centre at Inverclyde Royal before he was eventually diagnosed in October last year.

Michelle added: "It was a long process to get the diagnosis.

"It took just under two years from the date when we asked about it."

Neil added: "Although it was a shock, it was also a relief as we knew what we were dealing with."

Michelle says she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

She said: "I'm a bit more relaxed about his behaviour now.

"It's not so hard now when we are out and about.

"Cameron is also more supported in nursery and he's due to start school in the summer.

"The school are already giving us some support and giving Cameron more time to get settled before he starts so we have got things in place."

The couple say Cameron, who has an older brother Rhys, 23, is doing well.

By speaking out, they hope to raise awareness of autism and how it can affect children.

Michelle said: "Children with autism are not deliberately misbehaving, their behaviour is because of other things going on around them and things like bright lights, loud noise and too many people.

"Some of the children can't process it all.

"They also need lots of instruction.

"If I'm going in to town with Cameron I have to explain every single part of the trip and what shops we're going into and what items you need to buy.

"It's also important to give him lots of praise."

Neil and Paul need to raise £1,000 between them to do the skydive on April 13 so are appealing for local businesses to sponsor them.

They have organised a charity night on Saturday April 20 in the Victorian Suite in Greenock.

Ticket cost £10 each and can be booked by sending a message to Neil via Facebook.

To donate to the skydive sponsorship collection visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/neil-paulmcintyre-mcphee