Ken Bruce urges people to listen to autistic community as he is made an MBE
The Scottish radio presenter, who has an autistic son Murray, was recognised for his contribution to radio.
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Your support makes all the difference.Veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce has said it is āvitally importantā that we listen to the autistic community after he was made an MBE.
The 72-year-old Scottish radio presenter, who has an autistic son Murray, was recognised for his services to autism awareness, radio and charity during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Friday.
After the presentation, he told the PA news agency: āItās a great privilege to be awarded the MBE ā it wasnāt something I ever thought would happen to me.
āIām delighted itās been awarded not just for radio, but for autism awareness because I think itās vitally important that we listen more to the autistic community ā to what they have to say, to people who have lots of gifts and abilities that weāre not using enough at the moment.
āSo if this helps in some way to bring awareness a little bit higher in peopleās minds, then Iām all for it.ā
In 2009, Bruce released his autobiography Tracks Of My Years, speaking about his experience raising Murray, who is non-verbal, with his third wife Kerith.
The radio DJ said that in the past some people in society have believed āautistic people are not able to contribute too much to societyā.
He added: āThey get put in a little box and just left ā and not given enough chance to really develop their skills, their talents and to contribute to society.
āMany of the autistic people I know are eager to add something to society ā to help in some way and to contribute, and so if we can possibly help that develop a little more, that would be a great thing.ā
Bruce was given his medal by the Princess Royal, which he said was a ālovelyā experience and that they spoke about autism and radio.
Bruce left BBC Radio 2 in March, having presented his mid-morning programme for more than three decades, and began a new show on Greatest Hits Radio in April ā taking with him his popular music quiz, PopMaster.
According to data from research body Rajar published this week, Greatest Hits Radio appears to be enjoying a Bruce bounce, with the average audience now at 6.6 million ā up 14% on the previous quarter, and more than double the 2.9 million listeners two years ago.
Bruce said: āIām delighted to know that the audience are there and listening to me. All I have to do is keep doing it now and hope they stay.ā
The radio presenter said transitioning from the BBC had been āquite easyā as his programme at Greatest Hits is āvery similarā.
He added: āWhen youāre doing a radio programme, youāre doing it for the listeners not for a particular station.
āSo I was able to transition to it quite easily, I think, and Iām enjoying it here.ā
Reflecting on how he had built such a dedicated following, he said: āIf there is a secret, itās just being there a long time ā people getting used to you and you being part of the furniture.
āOne of the great strengths is that people get used to having you around, and as long as youāre not annoying them too much, then you can stay as long as you like and as they like.ā