I'm curious to know if anyone is willing to share experiences of youth football where an autistic child has been disciplined by the referee or county FA for their actions. I don't necessarily mean tackles but incidents where they may have lashed out verbally or physically and been punished for that. Some teams will choose to let the referee know about a particular child, but even if that happens the referee may not have the knowledge to understand some of the triggers or difficulties that child may have.
In a school setting there's often an EHCP or other plan in place that will give the adults an indication of what's going on in the background and assuming they have training they can modify their behaviour towards that child. There isn't really an equivalent in a sporting (non school) setting so the child may be singled out as a result. There is disability football which may be an option but some children may prefer to take part in the mainstream setting which I think then puts them at a disadvantage.
I look forward to hearing your comments - I'm hoping to be able to raise the issue in the hope that things might change - I don't know how yet, but your experiences I'm sure will help. My daughter was in this situation so I have my own experiences. I'm also a referee who was part of an incident at the weekend involving another child in this situation. I want to help them.