We want schools to become more inclusive to those with protected characteristics, including autistic children and young people, which is why we will launch a new anti-bullying programme. This will be important in making schools more welcoming and understanding, improving autistic children’s experiences of education as well as their ability to succeed. We expect this new programme to begin in September 2021. In recognition of the role that mental health can play in determining children and young people’s experiences in schools, we are also putting in place new Mental Health Support Teams and training for Designated Senior Mental Health Leads within schools, which will also benefit autistic pupils who are more likely to experience poor mental health. We are aiming to start rolling this training out in the next academic year 2021 to 2022. providing accessible education on topics such as keeping safe, sex and relationships and online safety In Scotland, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 makes provision for children and young people who have additional support needs (ASN). A child or young person has ASN if they are of school age or younger and require additional support to benefit from school education. This includes children and young people who: We will also review cross-Civil Service learning and development to ensure that neurodiversity is an integral part of courses, to enable managers to recruit and support neurodivergent employees. Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice ( MoJ) continues to work towards the Autism Friendly Award at the MoJ headquarters, to improve accessibility and support for autistic visitors and staff. The MoJ will share learning with other government departments. Making transport and communities more autism-inclusive Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980​, education is the responsibility of local authorities. Education should be flexible and fit individual needs. learning should be appropriate for age, ability, and aptitude. It should also support the personality and talents of the individual. Important legislation for Scottish education The Education (Scotland) Act 1980

Our online and face-to-face training courses can help develop your understanding of how to protect children from abuse and safely recruit staff and volunteers to work with children. To succeed in improving autistic people’s and their families’ lives we will need to work collaboratively to implement these actions across national and local government, the NHS, the education system, the criminal and youth justice systems, and with autistic people and their families. We will refresh our national governance arrangements to ensure government, delivery partners and other organisations responsible for implementing actions set out in the implementation plan are held to account on progress. 2. Our roadmap for the next 5 years How we will make our vision a realityAs we move out of the pandemic, I encourage us all to take part in levelling up society. In particular, I hope that employers across the country, including the public sector, will help more autistic people get into work and make sure they provide the reasonable adjustments people need to thrive, making use of the support that is being made available. I have ADHD and have been diagnosed with depression. I’ve been having a hard time at school, which has got worse since I came out as gay. The guys who bully me do it in the playground and online in the evenings when I’m trying to relax. When I get stressed, I make sudden movements and shout out things, which I can’t control. Sometimes I also hurt myself when I act like this.” Franklin, Anita, Toft, Alex and Goff, Sarah (2019) Parents' and carers' views on how we can work together to prevent the sexual abuse of disabled children: "You fear everything that is out of your control. Because you are their safe one" (PDF). London: NSPCC. Steven C. Hayes, PhD, is Nevada Foundation Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Nevada. He has authored, coauthored, or edited nearly 600 scientific articles and book chapters, as well as forty-three books, including Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, and The Wiley Handbook of Contextual Behavioral Science. A past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (which awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award), and of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, he is among the most cited psychologists in the world (http://www.webometrics.info/en/node/58). He has conducted hundreds of trainings in ACT, and has graduated near fifty doctoral students in his career. Adults who work with children and young people with SEND should be aware of the additional needs children may have that could mean they are more vulnerable to abuse and/or less able to speak out if something isn’t right.

Safeguarding 16 to 25 year olds: aimed at individuals who work with young people or vulnerable adults to help you protect them from abuse, neglect or harm.It tells you what you need to do to help protect your staff, customers and members of the public, making sure your business is adequately prepared for any eventuality. By the end of the strategy, we will have improved the support autistic people can access to find and stay in work. This includes making sure that existing services and work programmes are more autism-inclusive and better able to help autistic people find the right employment opportunity for them. 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. Our short video gives you an overview of the ACT Awareness e-learning, the sort of content it covers and the style and format of the learning. And all in just over a minute.

Below, we set out our vision for what we want autistic people and their families’ lives to be like in 2026 across 6 priority areas, and the steps we as national and local government, the NHS and others will take towards this within the first year of our implementation plan (2021 to 2022). We will refresh this implementation plan for subsequent years of the strategy, setting out further actions we will take across government, working in partnership with local authorities, the NHS and the voluntary sector, as well as autistic people, to enable us to move closer towards our vision. Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CEA) (2015b) Relationships and sexuality education guidance: an update for primary schools (PDF). Belfast: Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CEA).www.itv.com/news/london/2019-12-09/free-online-counter-terror-training-offered-to-the-public-will-you-sign-up/ Schools and education authorities must not treat disabled pupils less favourably. They must take reasonable steps to avoid putting pupils at a disadvantage. Since September 2012, schools (including independent schools) must make reasonable adjustments. Education (Scotland) Act 2016