THE MOONSHOT VISION – Maximising autistic power

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 maximises autistic power. Autistic people are empowered to control how they live their lives and make distinctive contributions that influence the world.

“Power” is itself a powerful word, and we heard clearly that autistic people want a society where they are empowered to make choices about their own life and to shape wider society. To maximise autistic power is to put autistic people’s wishes front and centre, while also meeting their need to have control over their lives, ambitions and achievements. In essence, we want autistic people to have the same opportunities to be powerful as everyone else. We want a society where autistic people help shape the world around them – whether that’s through their daily choices about where to go and what to do, or in wider society through influencing policy and creating change for others. 

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.  A society that maximises autistic power goes beyond making the simple (but vital) adjustments that enable autistic people to attend events like football matches.

"Mo", for example, regularly watches his favourite team. He has a season ticket for an aisle seat so he doesn’t feel trapped, and the stewards watch out for him. If it’s an important game with big crowds, the club helps Mo book an extra seat so he can bring someone with him. The club management approaches Mo about joining its board as a fan representative. They ask him about his communication needs, and make sure written information is clear and sent in plenty of time for Mo to process it. Mo shadows another board member before he starts, so he knows what to expect from the meetings. With Mo’s help, the club makes its grounds autism friendly.

Mo isn’t just empowered to attend matches. He can influence the football club he loves, and his contribution makes a difference to thousands of fans on the autism spectrum. Sadly, for most autistic people, this is a long way from their current reality.

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