How has taking part in the award helped you, your staff and the children and young people you support? 

The Best Practice Framework proved to be a powerful tool for self-reflection. We found it accessible and easy to navigate, with clear prompts that supported our internal quality assurance and encouraged constructive feedback from our service users and partners. It enabled us to examine our existing practice in detail, recognising where we were strong and identifying specific areas that could be refined. The process also prompted us to ask more targeted questions of our service users and partners, helping us to gather meaningful insights about the quality of our provision. 

This reflective process led to several tangible developments. For example, we decided to reorganise and simplify how resources will be presented on our new website, making information easier to find and more accessible. The accreditation process also resulted in autism practices being recognised as a discrete area within our service maintenance and innovation plan, ensuring that autism remains a sustained and high-priority focus for us. 

We went on to develop our All Kinds of Minds programme, which includes neurodiversity sessions for staff, workshops for children and young people that promote autism acceptance, and central training that celebrates neurodivergent strengths while supporting classroom needs. Alongside this, we launched a creative competition across schools to celebrate neurodiversity and promote inclusion. Overall, the process has enhanced our service delivery and contributed to more targeted, inclusive, and empowering support for autistic individuals. 

How do you feel the award will benefit you in the future? 

We were incredibly proud of our achievement. We felt that the whole process was robust, rigorous and fair, so we had genuinely earned the award. The support and challenge of our consultant, Stephanie de Vries, was highly valued – she gave us the supportive critical friendship that we were looking for. 

The award has provided assurance to families, partners and professionals that our services have been rigorously quality assured by an expert partner. It stands as a mark of quality and a visible demonstration of our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement. The process continues to improve our practice and keep autism as a priority focus. We don’t want to lose this award – we want to keep pushing forwards to make sure we retain it. 

Would you recommend other organisations to sign up to the award, and why? 

We would strongly recommend the Autism Inclusion Award to other organisations seeking to review and enhance their practice. It is a beneficial, important way of identifying service strengths and also identifying ways to improve your offer. It is robust, rigorous and supportive. You will walk away knowing that you have participated in a meaningful supported self-evaluation process leading to improved practice and outcomes. 

For us, the programme provided a valuable opportunity for honest and deep reflection on our service delivery and outcomes, supported by a clear and accessible framework. The guidance and expertise of National Autistic Society consultants were particularly helpful, encouraging us to think more deeply about what we do, why we do it, and how we can continue to improve. The visible accreditation, in turn, builds greater trust and confidence among our service users and stakeholders, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, inclusive practice.