THE MOONSHOT VISION – Guaranteeing support

During 2022, autistic people and their families worked alongside the National Autistic Society to create a vision of a society that works for them – a vision launched this week in our groundbreaking Moonshot report. Throughout the week, we’re taking a closer look at each of the “Future Realities” – the five things autistic people told us would together make up a society that truly works for them. 

We’ll know that society works for autistic people and their families when it:

• Values autistic individuals
• Maximises autistic power
• Guarantees support
• Adapts public spaces and services
• Is free from discrimination

A society that works for autistic people guarantees support. It provides seamless diagnosis, support and care for autistic people from all backgrounds, at all moments of need throughout their lives

Too many autistic people, families and support networks are currently being left to struggle, with local services not having the funding or staff they need to meet demand. Stakeholders in health and social care underlined that there is a real gap in support around diagnosis and key moments of transition in adulthood. They told us about “postcode lotteries” of support, with many autistic people facing additional barriers because of their ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, class or other disability. We also heard very clearly that there needs to be more recognition that support needs will change over the course of an individual’s life. A society that works for autistic people and their families will understand these things. It will have the services in place to meet autistic people’s needs, without them having to fight for it. 

As part of the insight-gathering with autistic people and their families last year, we considered different hypothetical scenarios and explored what these might look like in an autism-friendly future. 

For example, in a society that guarantees support, "Zainab" can turn her dream of becoming a chef into a reality. She’s leaving her autism-specific school to do a qualification in catering at her local college. This is a massive change, but Zainab has visited the college several times and was greeted each time by her new teacher. She was shown round in stages and at different times: first while it was quiet, and then so she could see what it’s like when it’s busy. Zainab knows exactly what she’ll be working on in the first few months of her course. Her tutor answered all her questions and worked with the college to find someone to help Zainab with written work. 

In reality, many autistic people face life transitions – like changing schools or jobs – with little to no support, sometimes leading to failure and frustration.

There is a huge amount of work to do to achieve a society that truly works for autistic people. But we choose to do it, along with hundreds of thousands of others. And we won’t stop until we succeed. 

To find out more, see The Moonshot Vision.
 

Tim Nicholls, Head of Influencing and Research, National Autistic Society