What do we need to know about the Government's new autism strategy for England?
The Autism Act was passed in 2009 and this update now includes children and young people for the first time. It outlines the Government's plans over the next 5 years on how they are going to support autistic people and their families. The commitments in this new strategy only go up to 2022. This is because there is a scheduled spending review in the autumn which will set out how much money the Government plans to spend on public services. Once this is confirmed the Department of Health and Social Care will know how much money they can commit to spending on the strategy.
So, what are the key things we need to know?
The Government wants to continue to improve societies awareness and understanding of autism to help promote a more autism friendly world by making changes across 6 key areas.
- Improving understanding and acceptance of autism within society
- Improving autistic children and young people's access to education and supporting positive transitions into adulthood
- Supporting autistic people into employment
- Tackling Health and Social care inequalities for autistic people
- Building the right support within the community and supporting people in inpatient care
- Improving support within the criminal and youth justice system