Learning Act: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills Training Manual: An Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Skills-Training Manual for Therapists

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From January 2021, all maintained mainstream schools and further education institutions in Wales must designate at least one ALNCo, who must be a teacher or have been a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) immediately prior to becoming an ALNCo. In addition, we will have improved welfare support for autistic people who are unable to work, so they can get the support they need to live well in their communities.

We have seen the number of people identified as being autistic in inpatient mental health services increase, and now know more about the scale of the life expectancy gap for autistic people, which is we know is approximately 16 years compared to the general population. We also know that many autistic young people find transitions into adulthood difficult because this is a period of heightened uncertainty and can result in changing access to services and support.In addition, we know the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on autistic people and their families’ lives. Over the next 5 years, we want to create a society that truly understands and includes autistic people in all aspects of life; one in which autistic people of all ages, backgrounds and across the country have equal opportunities to play a full part in their communities and to have better access to the services they need throughout their lives. The additional learning needs (ALN) system will be phased in over three years, starting in September 2021.

By 2026, we want data to show that we have made progress on closing the employment gap for autistic people, drawing on the Labour Force Survey. The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) forthcoming health and disability support green paper will consider how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people, including autistic people, and how the DWP can improve the service it provides. The findings from the 2017 inquiry into the education system contributed to our decision to extend the autism strategy for the first time to children and young people.

In this strategy, we also talk about neurodiversity, which refers to the different ways the brain can work and interpret information.

The ALNCo is also responsible for ensuring all children and young people with ALN have an individual development plan (IDP) or individual education plan (IEP) which sets out the additional learning provision and support they will receive (Welsh Government 2021; 2013). This includes improving understanding of the strengths and positives of being autistic, as well as the challenges people might face in their daily lives and how distressed behaviour can manifest itself.This is vital in protecting autistic people from being disproportionately affected and preventing the employment gap from widening further in a challenging context. We will make progress on closing the employment gap for autistic people, ensuring that more people who are able and want to work can do so and that those who have found a job are less likely to fall out of work. Far too many autistic people still struggle in childhood, both with getting a diagnosis and with support following a diagnosis, including at school, and find it hard to get a job when they reach adulthood. So far, we have published a range of guidance to support remote education, including specific support for children and young people with SEND.

The ALN system creates a number of new statutory roles which should be implemented before the rest of the system is put in place. We will do so by encouraging ministers across departments to undertake the APPGA’s Understanding Autism sessions, and increasing recognition and representation of neurodiversity across government departments. We will build a clearer understanding of how autistic people come into contact with the criminal and youth justice systems, and the type of support they may need across court, prison and under probation supervision. You should use suitable communication methods and consider ways to check that children have understood learning around relationships and sex education.

Find out why and how the Love Life films and resources were developed and the benefits our resources provide for young people with learning disabilities. It's also important to let parents and carers know what children are being taught so that messages can be mirrored at home (Franklin, Toft and Goff, 2019). A YouGov poll by the National Autistic Society in 2019 has shown improvements in employer awareness of autism, as well as confidence in recruiting autistic people (The Autism Act, 10 Years On, 2019). Scheduled reporting requirements will still apply and NaCTSO may withhold updates from any company not providing the agreed progress and completion.