We have engaged with over 400 members of the autistic community in Stockport over an 18-month period to shape our all-age Autism Strategy. We did this through attending community groups, delivering workshops with parents and carers of autistic adults and children and young people and engagement with autistic children, young people, and adults. We intend to continue to engage over our 3-year strategy.
This is what they told us:
Early years
- there is limited support for transition into school
- there is a gap between the pre-school and the school-age assessment teams
- there is a lack of early years autism training
- there is a lack of accessible resources
- there is a lack of support and training for parents and carers
School age
- staff in settings and universal services do not have appropriate training
- there are long assessment waiting times
- parents and carers are unaware of the available support
- there is limited pre-diagnostic support
- there is limited access to activities and short breaks and a lack of training available for staff
- it is difficult to navigate the Local Offer
- there is not equal access to information and support for home-educated children, children in specialist settings, and those currently out of education
- limited transition support from one school year to the next or moving up from primary school to secondary school or on to college
- limited support to prepare the young people for changes in their routine such as a school trip
- there is limited access to break out areas within schools to enable young people to regulate their emotions
Young people
- there is limited support for transition from school to college
- there is a lack of work experience opportunities
- many services end at 16 years
- there is limited family support post-16
- they are unaware of employment support or other opportunities such as apprenticeships
Adults
Our engagement sessions with our autistic adults, especially those over 30 were limited as we do not know our autistic population.
- there is limited support for autistic adults who do not have a learning disability
- there is a lack of post-diagnostic support for autistic adults and their family members
- it is difficult to access health care appointments
- more training is required for social workers, health and care staff to understand the wide range of needs of all autistic individuals and their family members
- there is limited access to clubs and activities, including autism-friendly slots
- it is difficult to obtain a disability travel passes
- more work needs to be done to understand how autism presents in girls and women
- there is no central place to access support and services
- there is a lack of support to find and stay in work
- there are long waiting times for assessments
- the care home environment and activities are not always appropriate for autistic adults
- the housing opportunities are not always appropriate for autistic people