We work in partnership with the Scottish Government by being represented on the Autism Reference Group and its working groups. We also respond to Scottish Government consultations which are relevant to people affected by autism.

Health And Social Care

The Adult Care and Support Division of the Health & Social Care Directorate is responsible for autism policy. The main policies about autism are:

  • The Scottish Strategy for Autism (2011)
  • Public Health Institute of Scotland's Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Needs Assessment Report (2001)
  • The White Paper, The Same as You? A Review of Services for People with Learning Disabilities (2000).

The Scottish Strategy for Autism

Scotland’s autism strategy was prepared in response to Hugh O’Donnell MSP’s proposal for a Scottish Autism Bill. It aims to address the gaps in services for people with autism and has been jointly produced by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) which represents councils.

The strategy contains 26 key recommendations and is supported by a commitment from the Scottish Government to invest £13.4 million between 2011 and 2015 to improve services. This will include a fund for organisations to apply to for developing projects, one-stop shops, autism service co-ordinators and funding for the Scottish Autism Services Network.

Public Health Institute of Scotland (PHIS) report

The aim of this report was to "provide information for service commissioners on the best available knowledge about autistic spectrum disorders and current service provision in Scotland, and guidance on how these services might better meet the needs of both children and adults with autistic spectrum disorders in the future."

The report looked at 'ideal' services for people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with particular focus on diagnosis and assessment as well as looking at services currently available in Scotland. The report made 32 recommendations.

The Scottish Government set up a working group to implement the report in 2002, called the ASD Reference Group, which has representatives from the medical and health professions and the voluntary sector. Sub-groups on diagnosis, training and information strategy were set up to focus on initial priorities.

The Same as You?

The White Paper The Same as You? relates to people with learning disabilities, but it also covers ASD. The Same as You? Implementation Group set up short-life working groups on children, employment, hospital care, day centres and advocacy. A Users and Carers Group also oversees the work of implementing The Same as You?

The Same As You? is being reviewed in 2011 and 2012.

Education

To inform the Education Department about educational and other provision for children and young people with an ASD, HMIe (Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education) launched a review of current provision. HMIe published its report, entitled Education for pupils with autism spectrum disorder, in October 2006.

The publication of the HMIe report coincided with the launch of the NAS make school make sense campaign in Scotland and the publication of the accompanying Scottish campaign report.

At the make school make sense launch in the Scottish Parliament, Robert Brown MSP, Deputy Minister for Education and Young People, announced the creation of an ASD and Education working group, set up to consider the recommendations of both the HMIe and NAS reports. The Autism Toolbox resource was prepared and distributed to every school in Scotland.