Issue - meetings

A circulated report was supplemented by a presentation from Alison Cole, WCC Senior Joint Commissioner for Disabilities and Autism. The report provided an update on the development of the joint Warwickshire and Coventry All Age Autism Strategy and an outline of activities being progressed to support delivery of the strategy.

Background and context were provided about autism, the statutory responsibilities of local authorities and clinical commissioning groups and the collaborative approach to developing a joint all age strategy for autistic people.

Subsequent sections focussed on the prevalence of autism and strategy development. The strategy was informed by a range of co-production and mapping activity. The report highlighted findings from the co-production and based on this evidence, five priority areas had been identified:

• Support autistic people and people with social, communication and emotional health needs to help themselves pre and post diagnosis
• Reduce inequalities for autistic people and make Coventry and Warwickshire autism friendly places to live
• Develop a range of organisations locally with the skills to support autistic people
• Develop the all age autism specialist support offer
• Co-produce, work together and learn about autism

The report included sections on delivery of the strategy objectives and priority actions for delivery in 2020/21. A copy of the draft autism strategy had been appended to the report.

The presentation covered the following areas:

• A video clip from the National Autistic Society https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4qs8jGN4U
• Why do we need a five-year strategy?
• Key messages from co-production and research
• The five key priority areas (detailed above)
• 2020/21 Activity

Questions and comments were invited, with responses provided as indicated:

·       A question concerning the aim to reduce the number of education and healthcare plans required. This would require autism training and it was asked how many schools had trained all staff to level one and/or level two of the Autism Education Trust programme. Ross Caws responded that 125 schools had undertaken level 1 training, with 24 doing the level 2 training. This comprised some 3572 people. There were a total of 247 schools in Warwickshire. Discussion about the endeavours being made with the remaining schools, whilst noting that this training was not mandatory, but there were continued efforts to offer it.

·       There was an under-representation of the prevalence of autism in females and diagnosis tools were more effective at diagnosing autism in males. Questions and points about how to ensure effective diagnosis for females, the relative responsiveness of Warwickshire compared to other areas, the plethora of evidence on national autism forums and the long waiting lists for diagnosis. There was a need for more resources and questions were submitted on planned measures to address current delays.  A written response would be provided after the meeting about gender and diagnosis.

·       People were reluctant to disclose autism. It was not a learning disability, and people feared prejudice and ignorance. There needed to be more emphasis on educating and training wider society. Officers agreed that not all autistic people wanted to be considered as people with a learning disability. This needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4