The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, and health ministers, Maria Caulfield, Maggie Throup and Lord Kamall, this week became the latest MPs to take part in our Understanding Autism sessions.

Our sessions launched in 2019, in partnership with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA), and are delivered by autistic colleagues. They’re a chance for MPs and their staff to hear directly from autistic people, to get a deeper understanding of autism and to discuss how they could better support their autistic constituents. 

The session was delivered by Helen Ellis, our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Co-ordinator and Leo Capella, our Job Coach. Both Helen and Leo are autistic. They spoke to the Secretary of State and ministers about what life can be like if you’re autistic, the challenges many autistic people can face getting the right care and support, and the often small adjustments that can help.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said: “I am passionate about improving the lives of autistic people and it was incredibly helpful to find out more from Leo and Helen about how autistic people experience the world as well as steps I can take to better support people in everyday life."

“There is more to be done to improve public understanding of autism, which is why the government’s all-age autism strategy aims to tackle the inequalities and barriers that autistic people face and to improve public understanding of autism.”
 
Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive at The National Autistic Society, said: "I’m really pleased that The Secretary of State and health and care ministers joined us for this Understanding Autism Session with Helen and Leo, two of our autistic colleagues. 

Many autistic people face huge problems getting the health and social care support they need, often because of a lack of appropriate services as well as insufficient understanding of autism and the often small adjustments that can help people. It’s absolutely vital that MPs and leaders within the Government have a good understanding of what it can be like to be autistic, so they can plan services and make sure the right workforce is in place. 

Our goal is for every MP to take steps towards understanding autism by doing one of our sessions before the end of this parliament. We believe this absolutely crucial in improving representation for autistic people and their families, and making sure they get the right support.”

Helen Ellis, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Co-ordinator at The National Autistic Society, said: "It’s always a real privilege to be able to share my personal and professional knowledge of autism with MPs, and I’m especially grateful to the Secretary of State and his ministers for making time to learn directly from us.”

Leo Capella, Job Coach at The National Autistic Society, said: “As the person who gave the first Understanding Autism Talk to MPs in 2019, I know the value of our elected members of the Government, as well as Parliament, having direct knowledge of autism from autistic people themselves. 

After all, a direct injection of knowledge into places that are hard to reach can clear many obstacles for a group of people, whether in employment, education, mental health or beyond.”   

We believe that increasing MPs’ and ministers’ understanding of autism is a really important step in improving their ability to support and champion the issues that matter to autistic people in Government. Our ambition is for every MP to take part in a session. In 2019, we ran a session with 82 MPs. 

Further information

• Find out more about our Understanding Autism sessions, in Helen Ellis’ blog