Autism Acceptance Week

Autism Acceptance Week

Alex Stainton

Outreach Services Manager at Flourish Specialist Education Services

As the world marks Autism Acceptance Week, I find myself once again reflecting on how far society has come in its attitudes towards Autism and Neurodiversity.  The fact that we have an international week at all is an important signifier of how the world has moved on and how much more accepting we are when it comes to supporting autistic people.

Through my outreach work at Flourish Specialist Education Services, I see first-hand the progress that has been made in many mainstream school environments.  For neurodivergent young people to cope – let alone thrive – at school, reasonable adjustments must be made.

It is up to the schools themselves to help them navigate school life in the best way possible.  This might be giving a student some down time in the middle of the day, giving them an area to eat their lunch away from a noisy and smelly dining room, or allowing them to not wear the school tie if they find it uncomfortable.

For these adjustments to be successful, they must be made across the school.  A fantastic SENCo can create bespoke and considered learning and support plans but it is also imperative that every member of staff the student might interact with – whether or not they teach them – has a good understanding of their needs.  Staff on corridor or lunch duty should be as aware of a student’s adjustments as a classroom teacher. 

And so, to achieve this school-wide understanding and adjustments, this commitment must come from the top with the school’s leaders not only approving these plans but also actively ensuring that all staff who need it, have a thorough understanding of the adjustments that have been made.

It is therefore heartening that I am increasingly interacting with school leaders who recognise the importance of making adjustments across the school.  Every student requires something slightly different and many of the school leaders I work with are already making the necessary adjustments.  It’s encouraging to see this and I commend the school leaders’ determination and commitment.

School leaders ask me what steps they should take to support their students and I am increasingly seeing them prepared to be flexible and accommodating for their neurodivergent students. To address the differences of pupils with physical needs, modern school buildings are accessible, we have adaptative technology available and all planning must take these needs into consideration. Encouragingly, we are seeing the same consideration being given to neurodivergent students and increasing efforts being made to facilitate their full participation and enjoyment of their time at school.

As part of this, school leaders need to actively listen to their students.  Student voice is crucial and we need to give students the opportunity to say what they find challenging and what support will help them.  If a child says they don’t want to go to school, we need to find out why.  It may require a simple adjustment to be made which could lead the child back to school.

And so, as we mark Autism Acceptance Week, I am not reflecting on what is still to be achieved but instead I want to thank and applaud all those school leaders who are determined to ensure their school meets the needs and interests of all their students.