THE MOONSHOT VISION
We have lift-off!

Throughout 2022, autistic people and their families worked alongside the National Autistic Society to create a vision of a society that works for them. Today, we’re proud to share that vision with the publication of our groundbreaking Moonshot report. 

Each day this week, we’ll look more closely at the five key things autistic people said a society that works for them would look like. But first, we wanted to explain a bit more about how we got here, and why we have such confidence in this vision.

We spoke to autistic people with a wide variety of needs and from different age groups and backgrounds. Throughout the insight-gathering, we kept in mind that many of the barriers autistic people face are heavily influenced by racism, classism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, as well as outdated and harmful stereotypes.

We designed our research to be truly inclusive – so that autistic people could take part in a way that suited them, whatever their individual needs or preferences. Workshops included non-verbal creative activities, and we used a media platform called MURAL to ensure that people who need longer to process their thoughts could still contribute fully.

• 150 people completed a survey
• 350 people shared their ideas on social media
• 20 individuals and groups submitted videos
• we held two consultation sessions with the National Autistic Society day services in Gravesend and Manchester
• we interviewed key stakeholders across health and social care, policy bodies, the media and other charities

We asked autistic people and their families about the challenges they currently face and the changes they want to see. From ‘future gazing’ exercises imagining how advances in technology might impact on autistic people’s employment, to sensitive discussions on ageing and end-of-life care, we considered all parts of society and every stage and facet of autistic life. 

We’re delighted to publish the Moonshot Vision, which brings all these amazing contributions together. It describes the society that we want to see in terms of five “Future Realities” and the Milestones we’ll need to reach along the way, across key areas of life such as work, education, diagnosis and specialist services.

Thank you to everyone who helped shape this vision, whether you answered a survey, shared a video, joined a focus group or sent us your artwork. It would not have been possible without your contribution.

Moonshot is a vision for the whole of society. It’s not something we own – and we certainly can’t reach it alone. Just like Nasa’s mission to land a spacecraft on the moon, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and a huge number of talented and passionate people to make the Moonshot a reality. We won’t stop until we do.

To find out more, see The Moonshot Vision.