Strengthened education and support for autistic children

The government has launched its Autism Strategy, which aims to tackle the inequalities and barriers autistic people face so they can live independent and fulfilled lives.

It includes commitments to provide better education tailored to the needs of autistic children and young people.

Backed by nearly £75 million in the first year, it aims to speed up diagnosis and improve support and care for autistic people. The funding includes £40 million through the NHS Long Term Plan to improve capacity in crisis services and support children with complex needs in inpatient care.

Part of the plan is to strengthen access to education and support positive transitions into adulthood for autistic children and young people. This will include testing and expanding a school-based identification programme based on a pilot in Bradford from 10 to over 100 schools over the next three years. Early findings from the pilot show children are being identified earlier and getting support quicker. This is important because early identification can play an important role in enabling children and young people to get timely support, which is crucial in preventing escalation of needs.

The plan also aims to support more autistic people into employment through improving the accessibility of job centres for autistic people, to get them the right help to find jobs or employment programmes.

This strategy will align with wider government work through the National Disability Strategy and the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) review. The government will ensure issues relevant to autistic people are considered as part of these programmes of work.

This strategy’s accompanying implementation plan will lay the foundations in the first year, for what the government aims to achieve over the course of the next five years. It will be refreshed in subsequent years, in line with future Spending Reviews.