More than 11,000 people sign our open letter calling on the Chancellor to invest in autistic people’s futures.

Thank you to the 11,000 people who signed our open letter to Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, calling on him to use his upcoming Spending Review to protect autistic people and their families from future waves of coronavirus and to invest in support and services.

Our letter urges the UK Government to commit to including autistic people and their families in their levelling up agenda.

It follows our Left Stranded report which found that coronavirus and the lockdown deepened well established existing inequalities. The disruption, uncertainty and pace of change triggered huge levels of anxiety and for some was made worse by the withdrawal of support from social care, education and mental health services.

As part of the report, we surveyed 4,232 autistic people and families in the UK during June and July, and found that: 

• 9 in 10 autistic people worried about their mental health during lockdown; 85% said their anxiety levels got worse 
• Autistic people were 7 times more likely to be chronically lonely than the general population*; and 6 times more likely to have low life satisfaction** (comparisons using ONS data) 
• 1 in 5 family members responding to the survey had to reduce work due to caring responsibilities 
• 7 in 10 parents say their child has had difficulty understanding or completing school work and around half said their child’s academic progress was suffering 

We led this research as part of a project funded by the Pears Foundation, with the support of other autism charities including Ambitious about Autism, Autistica, Scottish Autism, and the Autism Alliance - a coalition of 17 autism charities.

Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society, said: “Autistic people and their families have been struggling to get the care, support and understanding they need for years and things have been made even harder by coronavirus. children and adults have been left completed stranded. 

“The inequalities that autistic people and their families face aren’t new - we’ve been highlighting them for years. But coronavirus has laid them bare and deepened them. 

“Thank you to the many thousands of people who signed our letter. The Chancellor must listen to all our voices and take urgent action, by using next month’s Spending Review to protect autistic people from future waves of the virus. This means investing in the support and services autistic people need, and ending the inequalities that have persisted for years. Only then can we start creating a society that works for autistic people and their families.”