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This article aims to report the findings of a consultation in which people with autism, their families, carers and professionals were asked about their experiences of living with autism and using services in Hampshire. The consultation took place in order to develop a strategy for people with autism within Hampshire.

Hampshire Autism Voice and other stakeholders made it clear that it was important to include both adults and children to truly explore the needs of the local population who have autism. A questionnaire was devised and distributed to adults and children, parents and carers, and professionals.

The responses to the consultation show that experiences in Hampshire are similar to those reported elsewhere in the literature. They reaffirm the importance of the Autism Act and the necessity to address the needs of older children and adults who have slipped though the diagnosis and eligibility nets, but also highlight how pathways in life can be better when autism is recognised and supported early on, how serious damage to people's lives may be prevented, and how a holistic approach that starts from early childhood and promotes awareness and understanding throughout services is desired amongst Hampshire residents affected by autism.

The article advocates taking a strategic approach to improving services and facilities for people with autism across the whole life course, rather than focusing only on adults.

This was the first Hampshire autism‐specific consultation to obtain the views of people with autism, their families, carers and professionals on their experiences of living with autism and the services provided in the county. Taking a life course approach to autism‐related needs might, to date, be innovative within an English county council.

The first autism‐specific piece of legislation in England and Wales, the Autism Bill, put forward by Cheryl Gillan as a private member's bill, has now gone forward to House of Commons committee stage, after attracting almost universal support among MPs, charities and the media. It seeks to redress the widespread lack of local authority provision for the needs of people with autism (defined in the Bill as including all autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger's Syndrome): children, adults (defined as those over 18) and their families. Currently, despite legislative and policy provision for the disabled, many autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children are without appropriate education or assistance before, during and after the transition to adulthood. At least a third of adults with ASD were estimated in the National Autistic Society's report I Exist to be suffering from serious mental health difficulties as a result of lack of support, while families and carers of adults with ASD have been found to be frequently unable to obtain assistance (Rosenblatt, 2008). This article will provide details of the Bill before considering its implications for ASD children, adults and their families.

Should those of us who are neurologically atypical be diagnosed as ill, so in need of treatment or cure, or accepted as embodying a different way of being, as called for by the neurodiversity movement? We consider what legal structures and health and social care systems would be appropriate to promote neurodiversity, and how far this infrastructure in the United Kingdom today meets these criteria for those diagnosed with cognitive disability and learning disability.

The law and guidance concerning the social care of adults are a mess. More than 30 statutes and guidance documents deal with this area, many of which overlap or contradict each other, some dating back five decades. Because of this, the Law Commission has been asked to review the law and propose changes, which is, as the Law Society Gazette has put it, ‘the most radical shake‐up of adult social care in 60 years’ (Rayner, 2010). It is estimated that such legislation would affect 1.8 million people and six million carers (Brindle, 2010). The consultation document was published in February 2010 following a scoping exercise, and the closure date for responses was the 1st July 2010. The hope is that the consultation exercise will result in a response next year and a Bill drafted by the summer of 2012. In this article, we review the background to the consultation, and explore the Law Commission's proposals for reform. We examine the issues with particular reference to the readership of this journal, and make suggestions for change. We have also submited this article to the Law Commission as a response to the consultation document.

There is now a vast amount of available information, research and policy on the transition of young people with learning disabilities to adulthood. These sources are informed by different professional philosophies and practices, resulting in a heterogeneous mass of data that can be confusing, contradictory and repetitive. In this review we provide an overview of recent publications about services for young people with learning disabilities at the time of transition, with particular focus on those with mental disorders including neurodevelopment disorders and/or challenging behaviour. We discuss their relevance to good practice and the implications for the future development of services for people with learning disabilities in the UK. We argue that, despite the qualitative differences between the experience of transition to adulthood for young people with learning disabilities and that of other young people, the principles of service provision remain the same. Developments in research and clinical practice in this field ought to reflect good practice, as well as embracing new methodologies, and benefit from advances in adolescents without learning disabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to apply critical legal analysis to laws, policies and reforms focused on special educational needs (SEN) and equality in England and to suggest a Neurodiversity spectrum statement.

The paper reviews current legal and policy initiatives in SEN, together with recent reforms in equality law.

While past and current policies may have laudable aims, tensions such as a lack of integration of education, health and social services have had prejudicial outcomes for children with SEN, their families/carers, and the professionals involved.

Legal reforms promise to remedy some problems, but must be underpinned by adequate resourcing, appeal procedures, and remedies which foster the enforcement of legal duties. Some resources for families with children with SEN are noted.

The purpose of this paper is to examine current research on self-advocacy and self-determination of autistic students in order to provide an overview of the research and to critically evaluate researcher’s methods of inclusivity of autistic people. Additionally, this paper will critically analyse the discourse of the current research to assess the extent of deficit, stigma and pathology discourse.

Research will be selected from a list of criteria which is to seek research that is inclusive of autistic people. The research will be analysed using elements of critical discourse analysis, critical disability studies and critical autism studies. The critical autism studies approach used in this paper is emancipatory to promote autistic scholarship, autistic inclusivity and autistic led research methods.

The result of this paper is that by prioritising, and including autistic individuals in the studies about them provides valuable educational insights and often challenges assumptions, stigmas and stereotypes of autistic individuals.

The findings of the paper may be limited by the selection of literature reviewed and generalizability, therefore, researchers are encouraged to explore further.

This paper holds potential implications that question the consistency of current discourse and research into self-advocacy for autistic individuals in addition to providing effective research, teaching and support strategies based on insight. This paper also highlights some research that challenges assumptions of autistic individuals.

This paper challenges assumptions and stigmas associated with autistic individuals and demonstrates the importance of self-advocacy and self-determination. This research transforms the paradigm of autism and education practice that has the potential to improve autistic individuals’ education and ultimately, improve their lives.

This research is important and valuable as there is limited research in this area. The potential of this research is that it can shift the broad perceptions of autism and make improvements in education and autistic individuals lives.

The purpose of this paper is to place on record the impact made on government policy and research by Autism Cymru, a small charity that existed in Wales between 2001 and 2014. The success of Autism Cymru resulted directly from philanthropic funding, applied with strategic vision and genuine ambition.

A retrospective, chronological viewpoint highlighting the creative process, drawing upon records held by the charity.

Autism Cymru initiated the concept and played a crucial role in steering the development of government policy for autism in Wales between 2001 and 2011. The charity also drove forward the initiative, which led to the establishment of the Wales Autism Research Centre at Cardiff University in 2010. This paper demonstrates that with astute philanthropic support, small learning disability/autism charities can elicit structural and sustainable change at the national level, leading to wide-ranging benefits for the communities they represent.

The strategic approach taken over 20 years ago in Wales by Autism Cymru, which led to the Welsh Government’s ASD Strategic Action Plan for Wales (Welsh Government, 2011), set in place a national policy model, which was then followed by The Scottish Strategy for Autism and the Northern Ireland Autism Strategy (Department of Health, 2013>; Scottish Government, 2011). The insightful and tenacious method used by Autism Cymru remains relevant today, demonstrating that any small charity supported by shrewd philanthropic funding can punch well above its weight by taking a planned, ambitious and strategic approach to policy, research and practice.