National Strategy for Autistic Children, Young People and Adults: 2021 to 2026 21st July 2021 By Tracie Coultas-Pitman, CEO Today the government have published their latest autism strategy, laying out its plans for support over the next 5 years. It’s main … Read More
The change we want to see 2nd April 2021 By Tracie Linehan, CEO World Autism Awareness Week is the perfect backdrop to not only raise awareness, it can be a catalyst for change. As we emerge from the pan… Read More
Community and breaking the cycle of prejudice 2nd April 2021 By Alex, Intern If you are a neurotypical reading this, are you able to access your community easily and stress free? Unfortunately, for some people with autism a… Read More
Employment for people with autism 30th March 2021 By David Anthony, Head of Research and Learning Sustained employment has never been more important. The most recent data from the Office of National Statistics, s… Read More
Challenging the perceptions of employment 30th March 2021 By Emily Ross, Specialist Vocational Advisor We want all our learners and those who use our services to aspire to access some form of employment. When we talk abo… Read More
Left Stranded, my response to the NAS COVID-19 report 15th March 2021 By Alex, Intern Recently my colleague Martin and I (interns at BeyondAutism), have been creating a podcast series on a variety of topics related to autism and emp… Read More
Behaviour and a ‘recovery curriculum’: returning back to school 4th March 2021 By David Anthony, Head of Research and Learning Our learners still need a recovery curriculum to tackle the loss of routines, structure, friendship, opportunity, … Read More
First meeting of the Employment Advisory Committee 28th September 2020 Last week the Employment Advisory Committee held its first (virtual) meeting. This is an exciting step in our employability project which is focused on ensuring ever… Read More
What do people think when you talk about inclusivity in the workplace? 29th May 2020 By Emily Ross, Specialist Vocational Advisor Inclusivity in the workplace does not just mean employing people regardless of gender, age, race & disability. Wh… Read More
Approaching the transition back to school 11th May 2020 There must be an acknowledgement that our learners will be changed by the experiences they have had. Tools and guidance must reflect this as we take the first steps … Read More
EHCP relaxation – is this a contradiction to safeguarding? 11th May 2020 This is the time to step-up not to step-back The fundamental strands to a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) are an accurate description of need, comb… Read More
“Behaviour is communication; we need to be receptive and willing to work out what it is telling us” 28th January 2020 CEO, Tracie Linehan, shares her thoughts after Alex Sobel MP calls for a ban on isolation booths in schools at the Lose the Booths conference. The 8 year old me l… Read More
Active Citizens 5th April 2019 What is an active citizen? In our schools, citizenship is taught to address the desire to provide pupils with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to … Read More
Just Enough Support 4th April 2019 This year, as we have devised our Post-19 curriculum, we have challenged ourselves to evaluate the notion of ‘what is education?’ and more specifically the ideas aro… Read More
Parent Resilience 3rd April 2019 Many parents raising children with autism experience higher levels of anxiety over the spectrum of their child’s additional needs; often from the moment they first s… Read More
Developing Pupil Voice 2nd April 2019 Pupils learning about Zones of Regulation As author Douglas Adams says, “The hardest assumption to challenge is the one you don’t even know you are making”. When … Read More
DfE announces 3,500 extra SEND school places 12th March 2019 Yesterday the Department for Education announced around 3,500 extra school places are to be created “for pupils facing the biggest challenges in their education” (li… Read More
Seeing “behavioural problems” as a form of communication 8th March 2019 Yesterday I read yet another article discussing a child with autism left without a school place for 12 months following his exclusion for behavioural problems (link … Read More
What’s the point of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan? – The promise versus the reality 6th February 2019 As the first generation of young adults carrying Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans are leaving school and entering the new no-man’s land of 19–25, rather than s… Read More
Should we all be doing more to prevent school exclusion? 28th November 2018 Yesterday was a sad day – another point was scored by school exclusion. A 10-year-old with autism was permanently excluded from his primary school because the Headte… Read More