Baroness Antrobus (Lab)

My Lords, I wish to commend this report, in particular its emphasis on the importance of the principle of “nothing about us without us”, as referenced by my noble friend Lady Dacres of Lewisham, encouraging the involvement of autistic people, as well as those who support them, in making decisions that affect them and their daily lives. I want to talk specifically to the part of the report about relationships, sex and health education, RSE, for autistic children—or, in fact, the lack of it. As Dr Felicity Sedgewick said in her evidence, young autistic people are not typically offered RSE that meets their needs. She recommended that adapted, accessible RSE should be developed. The report then refers to the need for RSE to be tailored to the needs of all children with SEND; I agree with this wholeheartedly. I understand why RSE was mentioned fairly briefly in such a comprehensive report, and I believe that this important topic deserves ongoing attention. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that RSE for SEND children should be reviewed as a matter of urgency? I come at this not as an expert, unlike so many of my fellow noble Lords, but with a stepdaughter who wrote her MA dissertation on the subject, in fact supervised by the committee’s specialist adviser, Professor Laura Crane. She is about to embark on a PhD on RSE for SEND children, given that there is so little research in this area. Before and during her undergraduate degree, she worked as a teaching assistant in a SEND school and experienced at first hand the consequences of a paucity of direction, guidance or policy in this area. As the Government’s response to the report said, “reforms should be grounded in evidence”. This is important to parents, teachers and other caregivers, but most of all to young autistic people themselves.