Vision to Reality strategy

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Introducing our new strategy

We’re delighted to launch our new Vision to Reality strategy 2023 to 2026. Guided by the Moonshot Vision, the strategy defines the unique role the National Autistic Society will play in creating a society that works for autistic people. It outlines the beliefs, ambitions and priorities that will guide our work.

Whether you’re an autistic person, family member or ally, a partner organisation, a staff member or Trustee, a volunteer at your local branch, a committed campaigner or fundraiser – or perhaps several of these – this strategy helps define a set of shared objectives so we can change the world together.

Watch our video:

Read our strategy document: View here

Our vision

Today, our goal is the same as it always was – to create a society that works for autistic people. But society has changed a lot since our charity was founded 60 years ago, as has what we know about autism and what autistic people rightly expect from the world around them.

So in 2022 we embarked on a major exercise to articulate what a society that works for autistic people actually looks like, by asking autistic people, their families and professionals about the challenges they face and the changes they most want to see. This led to the publication of our shared vision of an autism-friendly society. We called it 'The Moonshot' because of the scale of ambition and collaboration needed to achieve it.

Autistic people and family members told us powerful stories about the barriers and discrimination they face every day in all areas of life. They told us that a society that works for autistic people:

values autistic individuals
maximises autistic power
guarantees support

adapts public services and spaces
is free from discrimination.

This organisational strategy puts us on a pathway to make this vision a reality.

Our mission

We are here to transform lives and change attitudes to help create a society that works for autistic people.

Our beliefs

We believe the role of the National Autistic Society is to:

support all autistic individuals and their families to live a fulfilled life on their terms.
influence and collaborate with others to improve standards and adjustments.
transform society by building understanding, acceptance and respect for all autistic people.

Within each belief, we have defined a set of ambitions; we’ll use this as a framework to decide where to focus our efforts for maximum impact. In the pages that follow, we set out these ambitions with examples of some of the steps we’ll prioritise in the next three years to achieve them.

Each of these ambitions will take time to realise. With some, we can start work straight away. With others, we need to research and plan before we start delivering on them. We will complete some of the ambitions within the three years of this strategy, while others will be started but will still run for many years to come.

If we can go further and do more to work towards our beliefs, we will.

Support

Support all autistic individuals and their families to live a fulfilled life on their own terms.

We’re here to support the more than 700,000 autistic people in the UK and their families. That won’t change – we heard loud and clear from our insight gathering that this should remain one of our top priorities. But we’ll work harder to make sure that autistic people are at the heart of shaping and delivering the support they want, whether that’s in public or specialist services, the world of work, or their care and family networks. We’ll also strive to maximise autistic power through greater representation in all areas of life.

Influence

Influence and collaborate with others to improve standards and adjustments.

Our vision of an autism-friendly future is a vision for the whole of society. This means we can’t achieve it alone. Autistic people and their families told us we need to collaborate more – with local and national government, employers, and other groups and charities, among others – in order to have the reach and influence we need to change society. Our training, campaigning and advocacy must be targeted, persistent and based on autistic voices.

Transform

Transform society by building understanding, acceptance and respect for all autistic people.

Autistic people and their family members often tell us that the thing that would make the biggest improvement to their lives is greater public understanding of autism. Lack of understanding has a daily impact on autistic people’s lives and is one of the main barriers they face to taking part in education, work or leisure activities. We’re committed to deepening public knowledge, sharing best practice, overcoming stereotypes and ending stigma.

How we will deliver this strategy

We recognise that to achieve the ambitions laid out above, we also need to change ourselves. Fundamentally, we need to reflect the change that we want to see and to lead by example. Here we focus on our ‘foundations’ – the culture and ways of working we will develop as an organisation to help put our strategy into action.

To support our strategy:

We’ll become the best employer of autistic staff and provide opportunities to learn, progress and enjoy work for every National Autistic Society employee.
We’ll further develop sustainable financial models to support the long-term delivery of our vision and strategy.
We’ll demonstrate an exemplary approach to safeguarding, governance, risk, and health and safety in delivering high-quality services.
We’ll champion technology internally and externally as a way to improve the lives of autistic people.
We’ll establish a new operating and decision-making model so that we can effectively and efficiently deliver our strategy for the benefit of all autistic people.
We’ll deliver high-impact fundraising approaches, exceptional supporter care and experience, and compelling storytelling to demonstrate impact.
We’ll coordinate and harmonise the ways that autistic people, families and others can contribute to, be involved with and relate to our charity.

The Moonshot Vision is our vision for society, guided by autistic people and their families. It defines a shared vision of what we’re all working towards – not just for our charity, but for the whole of society.

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Vision to Reality strategy blogs

Our new strategy, Vision to Reality, focuses on how we will create a society that works for autistic people. These blogs tell the story of our strategy’s development, and the hopes and ambitions of the people involved.

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