If you came into a lot of money, how would you invest it to help the autistic community?

Many more specialist autistic led schools for autistic children of all abilities. Sufficient resources for all autistic children in mainstream education to receive the support and adjustments they need. Education for all children on what neurodiversity is.

I would also set up a specific and separate service to help autistic adults live independent lives, in particular those without a learning disability who currently cannot access support from Social Services. This service would be autistic led and aim to enable autistic people to thrive in suitably adapted environments, not merely to cope in unsuitable environments.

The service would include practical and individual person centred support and advice with real life day to day issues. Support with legal discrimination issues to ensure that organisations we deal with are fully aware of how to avoid discrimination. Support with employment issues, ensuring that we receive all the reasonable adjustments necessary to do our job to the best of our ability. Support with accessing health care. Support with making phone calls, shopping, getting work done, housing issues. Basically whatever each person needs help with or to access.

Such a service would help to avoid problems becoming insurmountable and having a negative effect on mental health. However autistic people clearly do suffer a disproportionate amount of mental health issues. Particularly those diagnosed later may have already suffered a lot of unnecessary and harmful trauma. Therapists would be readily available and fully trained to provide holistic person centred therapy, nothing like the existing standardised CBT therapies so often used without success.

Hopefully with the above support, crisis services would no longer be needed. However they will be available and in whatever form of communication each person prefers.

There will be no expectation that communication must be verbal for access to any of these services.

Many more specialist autistic led schools for autistic children of all abilities. Sufficient resources for all autistic children in mainstream education to receive the support and adjustments they need. Education for all children on what neurodiversity is.

I would also set up a specific and separate service to help autistic adults live independent lives, in particular those without a learning disability who currently cannot access support from Social Services. This service would be autistic led and aim to enable autistic people to thrive in suitably adapted environments, not merely to cope in unsuitable environments.

The service would include practical and individual person centred support and advice with real life day to day issues. Support with legal discrimination issues to ensure that organisations we deal with are fully aware of how to avoid discrimination. Support with employment issues, ensuring that we receive all the reasonable adjustments necessary to do our job to the best of our ability. Support with accessing health care. Support with making phone calls, shopping, getting work done, housing issues. Basically whatever each person needs help with or to access.

Such a service would help to avoid problems becoming insurmountable and having a negative effect on mental health. However autistic people clearly do suffer a disproportionate amount of mental health issues. Particularly those diagnosed later may have already suffered a lot of unnecessary and harmful trauma. Therapists would be readily available and fully trained to provide holistic person centred therapy, nothing like the existing standardised CBT therapies so often used without success.

Hopefully with the above support, crisis services would no longer be needed. However they will be available and in whatever form of communication each person prefers.

There will be no expectation that communication must be verbal for access to any of these services.

Some great ideas there Auto

Autonomistic said:

Support with employment issues

I badly needed this, especially with job interviews. Most of mine have been a complete mare because i struggle with my speech