Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there,
I am a mum of two girls - one is 10 and has an ASD diagnosis, and the other is 13 and has many autistic traits but has not met the diagnostic criteria as of yet! I work in a school setting supporting children, and am also studying for a degree in Childhood Studies. I am currently conducting research for my dissertation, which is on the subject of recognising the signs of autism in girls.
I have been trying to ascertain which government policies/statutory guidance that schools have to comply with that would relate to recognising or referring children with suspected ASD. Is anyone able to help me? I have, of course, googled, but I am struggling to narrow it down to a specific policy that relates to children. The Autism Strategy has come up, but seems to be aimed at adults?
Any help would be much appreciated as I have spent most of the afternoon trawling through google, and am wasting time I haven't got, so I thought there may be an expert out there who could point me in the right direction!
Look forward to getting to know you all, I have had a bit of a nosy and the forum looks like a fab place to come to for advice and support.
Love Mel x
Hello and welcome.
This is a pretty good summary of the current UK government policies regarding autism, and there is a section on Education which may offer you some helpful information:
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/26154/2/CBP-7172_Redacted.pdf
Other than that I’m afraid I can’t offer much as I don’t have any personal knowledge in this area, though maybe if you contacted the NAS they would have the information you require.
Thank you :)