Michael Baron

Michael Geoffrey Baron (25 December 1928 – 16 November 2025) was a solicitor and autism advocate who would co-found the National Autistic Society in 1962 and serve as its first chair until 1967.

Biography Baron was born in Willesden in northwest London. He was educated at Westminster School before attending university at Trinity College, Cambridge to study history and would graduate in 1951.

Autism advocacy Baron's son Timothy would grow up struggling with autism due to it not being well understood. Timothy would first be diagnosed with "childhood psychosis", but later become one of the first children in the UK diagnosed with autism. Baron's experiences would motivate him to help advocate for the redefining of how the condition was understood. Baron was involved with the development of what would become the National Autistic Society, among those who met in 1962 to establish an autism-specific charity. For this he would be awarded an MBE in 1980.