Restructure social services training to include specific knowledge of autism

Background

We call on the government to restructure social services training to include a specialised qualification in autism. This training would ensure adequate, focused knowledge and understanding of autism in order to provide correct support to meet autistic people's specific needs.

Additional details

We believe social services, who are often involved in autistic families lives, should be consistent and work in line with the required knowledge and understanding of autism in order to meet the needs of autistic people. These needs include the awareness and acceptance of autistic people's differences in life such as sensory, emotional and psychological. This training is vital to work with autistic families who are often misunderstood and vulnerable to false accusations such as child neglect.