http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide43/index.asp

New Autism skills and knowledge list launched

News release from Skills for Care – 22 September 2011

A new knowledge list to support social care and health service providers working with people with autism has been launched after extensive consultation across both sectors.

The Autism skills and knowledge list has been developed jointly by Skills for Care, Skills for Health and the National Autistic Society after consultation with over two thousand people including health and social care professionals, commissioners and managers.

The consultation included around 150 people who have autism and over 800 family carers who made their views known by completing a survey, attending focus groups or commenting on draft materials.

The list will enhance, across both settings, awareness of autism and improve skills among workers in generic health and social care services. This work is part of a wider range of on-line training resources funded by the Department of Health to increase awareness and understanding of autism across all public services.

Individual workers, or services and teams, can use the list to work out whether they have the knowledge and skills needed to provide a good service to people who have autism.

It will also be useful for people who are arranging or providing training to workers. The list will support people with no knowledge and experience of autism, as well as those with existing knowledge about autism including lived personal experience of having autism or being a family carer to a person with autism.

Professionals in the training field will also find an accompanying document, Implementing the autism skills and knowledge list through staff training and development, useful in helping them to co-ordinate future activity in this area.

Getting it right for people with autism – the research behind the “Autism skills and knowledge list”, describes the process followed to develop the skills list and is now available.

http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/developing_skills/autism/autism_skills_and_knowledge_list.aspx

• Explain at every stage what you are about to do, what will happen next and why.
  
  
• Give the person enough time to understand the information you are sharing and wait a few seconds for a response if it is not
  given immediately.
  
  
• Questions should be clear and direct using language that is easy to understand and pictures where necessary – do not rely on the person to pick up on the meaning of your questions or body language.
  
  
• People with autism might take what you say literally so avoid words with a double meaning and humour that could be
  misunderstood.
  
  
• Maintain a routine – familiarity is often important to some people with autism.
  
  
• Social difficulties may include lack of eye contact and unusual body language, talking at inappropriate moments or about
  inappropriate topics.
  
  
• Repetitive behaviours might be a coping mechanism and therefore should be respected.
  
  
• The environment is important – some people with autism are particularly sensitive to light, movement, sounds, smell and touch.
• Try to keep the immediate environment as calm as possible to help alleviate any anxiety.
  
  
• Always consider the person’s behaviour in terms of his or her autism, even if it becomes challenging.
  
  
• Ask the person and/or parent, carer or advocate what support they might need.

Produced by RCN Publishing in partnership with: BPS, DH, NAS, RCGP, RCN, RCPsych,
Skills for Care, Skills for Health, SCIE, University of Oxford
Adapted with kind permission from a poster provided by the Estia Centre

The purpose of the guidance is to secure the implementation of ‘Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives: The strategy for adults with autism in England’ by giving guidance to local authorities, NHS bodies and NHS Foundation Trusts around training of staff, the diagnosis of autism and the leadership and planning of services. Follow the attached links to the Department of Health:

FULFILLING AND REWARDING LIVES

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ADULTS WITH AUTISM

Easy Read WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ADULTS WITH AUTISM

It covers all aspects of life, including health, housing, getting a paid job, personalisation, transition, advocacy, hate crime and relationships.

The delivery plan sets out the governance structure and the actions, with timescales and responsibilities, that will be taken to support the implementation of Valuing people now. Click on the links below to view the delivery plan

The book covers the diagnostic process, concerns of parents, coping strategies, teaching methods, behaviour strategies, research being carried out on the subject, recognising educational needs, my child’s developmental history and my approach to Autism. It also talks of finding an appropriate educational environment and offers practical guidance in this area. It offers guidance in teaching body awareness, developing life skills, building an understanding of the environment and everyday situations.

I gave up my career as an Interior Designer in Dubai to devote my time to Steven and used my creative skills to produce materials to further encourage his learning. I educated myself on the various strategies and the subject of Autism. Seeing some progress in Steven’s abilities, I returned to the UK hoping it was the correct decision for him. Unfortunately, I have found that what I had hoped for Steven from the UK educational system wasn’t what it turned out to be. I battled with the Local Education Authority to obtain the provision that Steven needed and felt frustrated at the lack of educational support that he received. Steven has been in an educational setting provided by the LEA for the past eight years and made no progress. Therefore, I have decided to teach him at home myself again on a full time basis. This is not an easy option for me but I feel that the system has failed him and I wish to provide Steven a chance to live and to show how much he is capable of achieving.

I will be picking up from where we left off when he was taught at home at the age of seven and through this book I want to help other parents to appreciate what they can achieve with their children through perseverance and love.

Sandy Howarth

On 22 April at 9pm, BBC3 will launch a new season of autism programmes. The season has come about due to the popularity of ‘The Autistic Me’, a documentary first broadcast last August.
 
The first film is a follow-up to ‘The Autistic Me’, called ‘The Autistic Me: One Year On’. It revisits the people who were in the original documentary to see how their lives have progressed.
 
Scenes in the documentary include a meeting with MP Theresa May at Westminster to discuss the NAS ‘Don’t Write Me Off’ campaign and a session at the National Autistic Society Hertfordshire Resource Centre. 
 
Other programmes include:

The Autistic Driving School: Thursday 29 April, 9pm
Autism, Disco and Me: Thursday 6 May, 9pm
Autistic Superstars: Thursday 13 and 20 May
 
For more information about the BBC autism season,visit the BBC website.

Young, Autistic and Stagetruck

‘Young, Autistic and Stagestruck’, currently airing on Mondays at 8pm on Channel 4, follows a group of young children and teenagers with autism as they are brought together to produce a drama production. It also follows them and their families at home and while going about their daily lives. 
 

You can find out more about ‘Young, Autistic and Stagestruck’ on the Channel 4 website.

The Government’s vision is that ‘All adults with autism are able to live fulfilling and understands them. The first autism strategy for England states – They can get a diagnosis and access support if they need it, and they can depend on mainstream public services to treat them fairly as individuals, helping them make the most of their talents.’: The strategy for adults with autism in England (2010)

The Autism Act started out as a Private Members Bill, drafted by The National Autistic Society (NAS) and taken forward by Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan. The Bill was backed by a coalition of 16 autism organisations and had overwhelming parliamentary support, being backed by all the main political parties. 

The adult autism strategy

Download a copy of the Autism Act here

The Autism Act will guarantee the introduction of the first-ever adult autism strategy, which will set out how local services should be improved to meet the needs of adults with autism.

The strategy will cover a range of issues including health, social care, employment and training and, crucially, will be accompanied by guidance which places a legal obligation on local authorities and NHS bodies to meet certain requirements.

The strategy will be published by April 2010 and the accompanying legal guidance no later than December 2010.

Download a PDF of the adult autism strategy for England here. 

The strategy sets out a number of key actions and recommendations for central Government as well as for local authorities, the NHS and Jobcentre Plus.

In particular, we welcome the following aspects of the strategy.

■Improved training of frontline professionals in autism.
■The recommendation to develop local autism teams.
■Actions for better planning and commissioning of services, including involving people with autism and their parents/carers in this process.
■Actions for improving access to diagnosis.
■Leadership structures at national, regional and local levels to support delivery.
■Proposals for reviewing the strategy to make sure that it is working.