COM0002

Written evidence submitted by Ambitious About Autism

About us

Ambitious about Autism is the national charity for children and young people with autism. We provide services, raise awareness and understanding, and campaign for change. Through TreeHouse School and Ambitious College we offer specialist education and support. Our mission is to help children and young people with autism to learn, thrive and achieve.

Introduction

1. We are delighted that the Children’s Commissioner wants to be ambitious for children. As our name suggests, we too are ambitious: our vision is to make the ordinary possible for children and young people with autism. Children and young people with autism want exactly what all people want: the chance to develop skills, earn money, and to be independent. We welcome the Commissioner’s commitment to advocate for positive change for all children, particularly those who are most disadvantaged, including children with autism, so that they can achieve their goals in life.

Comments on Commitment 1: Understanding and celebrating childhood

2. We agree with the Commissioner that children must be seen, heard and better understood. We also agree that we should not only listen to children, but act on what we learn to improve and change what we do.

3. Like other children and young people, children and young people with autism want to have their voices heard. Autism can make communication challenging, but with the right support, children and young people with autism can make a strong contribution in participation networks. We know this from experience. Ambitious about Autism has a strong track record of engaging young people with autism: we have 15 Youth Patrons who help to guide our work, and 19 active participants of our myVoice project – the first support network for people with autism, run by young people with autism.

4. Our recommendations:

• Ensure that children and young people with autism are represented in the Commissioner’s participation network. We would welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with the Commissioner to help to achieve this.

• Ensure that ‘Curating Childhood’ reflects the experiences of children with autism, including those with complex needs.

Comments on Commitment 2: See a major reduction in children being harmed

5. Children with autism are at an increased risk of being harmed. Autism can affect a child’s ability to communicate their emotions and needs, making them particularly vulnerable to abuse. Research suggests that there are higher prevalence rates of abuse among children and young people with autism than those without disabilities.[1]

6. Part of the problem is that there is a worrying lack of adequate protection and support, tailored to the needs of children and young people with autism. There has been some work in this area: for example, Ambitious about Autism worked in a consortium funded by the Department for Education on a project designed to improve safeguarding outcomes for children and young people with autism. But there is still more to be done. A recent study reported that children with disabilities are at particular risk of sexual exploitation, yet there is still the perception that children in this group do not need sex and relationships advice and information.[2]

7. Our recommendation:

• Work in partnership with networks such as Network Autism to ensure that any guidance and support developed by the Commissioner incorporates approaches that are suited to the needs of children and young people with autism.

Comments on Commitment 4: See sustained action to reduce inequalities for children

8. The children we speak to agree that being able to access good quality and relevant education is a priority. Improving access to education for children with autism is critical to improving the employment rate for adults with autism, which currently stands at just 15%.[3] As our Finished at School campaign showed, there is not enough quality education provision for young people with autism once they leave school. In particular, children and young people with autism want access to provision that includes a work experience component. Furthermore, our Ruled Out campaign has showed that children with autism are often illegally excluded from school.

9. We applaud the Commissioner’s focus on tackling mental health. Children and young people with autism are disproportionately affected by mental illness:  according to research by Autistica, 70% of individuals with autism suffer the distress of mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and attention problems. Many of our young service users have said to us that their mental health difficulties are more difficult to cope with than their autism.

10.         Our recommendations:

• Improve access to educational opportunities for young people with autism after they leave school, by disseminating findings from Ambitious about Autism’s Finished at School and Succeeding at College projects.

• Push for greater access to funding for children’s mental health services.

October 2015