In 2018, NPAA Vice-Chair and Police Scotland coordinator Claire Masterton was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study autism training and education in police forces in the United States and Europe. Claire travelled across the US, visiting police departments in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine, and crossed the Atlantic to look at projects being run with the police forces of Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands.

Following her fact-finding mission, Claire has a produced a report on her findings, Autism and Policing: Best Practice in Education and Training. Click on the link to download a PDF, and click here to read Claire’s blog on her trip.

At the time Claire applied for her Churchill Fellowship, the National Police Autism Association was barely two years old, and autism awareness in policing was a largely unexplored area of research. We would like to extend our thanks to Claire for this groundbreaking piece of work, to the police departments and staff who kindly offered their assistance with the project, and to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for making it possible. ∎

The National Autistic Society has today published a report on the Autism Act, in partnership with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA). The report marks the 10th anniversary of the Act, and was completed following consultations with a wide range of individuals and groups including the National Police Autism Association.

The report shows that 71% of autistic adults in England aren’t getting the basic care and support they need. This could mean up to 327,000 autistic adults don’t get the help to do basic activities such as washing, cooking or going out of the house. The NAS believes that this is having devastating consequences: widespread isolation, mental health problems and people falling into crisis.

In order to address this, the report calls on the Government to:

• Introduce specialist autism support in every council in England
• Immediately invest in social care services and secure long term sustainable funding
• Honour its commitment to launch a fully-funded campaign to improve public understanding of autism.

The full list of recommendations can be read in the report – click on the image to download the PDF.

On the back of the report findings, the NAS is launching its Not Enough campaign, which echoes these calls for better support and services for autistic people in England.

The NPAA would like to extend our thanks to the APPGA and NAS for including us in the report consultation process.

An alert card and passport scheme aimed at improving how police interact with autistic people has been introduced across London.

The scheme is a joint project between the Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and British Transport Police, and is endorsed by the National Police Autism Association. It was developed following extensive consultations with autistic individuals and their parents, the National Autistic Society, Autism Partnership Boards and other partner agencies.

The cards will alert officers to the fact that the individual may have difficulty with communication and may exhibit unusual or unpredictable behaviour. In turn, officers will be able to adjust their communication style to interact with the individual appropriately. The card also details how autism can present, and provides practical advice for the officer involved.

The scheme was funded by the MPS under the Proceeds of Crime Act, using cash and assets confiscated from criminals.

The alert cards, and larger ‘passports’ carrying the same information, will be distributed and made available through autistic partnership boards and local police across the capital.

For more information about the scheme and how to obtain a card, email autism@met.police.uk

The NPAA would like to extend our thanks to the Forces involved, and to independent autism consultant Amanda Gibbs for including us in this project.