Autistic pupils’ school experience can often be negative, leading to long term mental health difficulties. NHS England has commissioned the ‘Autism in Schools’ Project. Its aim is to enable young people to be supported well at school, and in the longer term prevent unnecessary admissions to mental health services. 

The London project aims to ‘improve the understanding of autism and how reasonable adjustments can be used to improve access to education and extracurricular actives within up to 20 secondary schools’.   

The evaluation involves a wide range of stakeholders – e.g., Parent Carer Forums, Autism Partnership Boards, School Heads and SENCO forums, youth councils, Children’s Commissioners, CAMHS, Occupational Therapy and gender identity services, the Whole School SEND regional team, Local authority behavioural teams, educational psychologists, child Disablement teams, early help teams, SEND panels/coordinators and virtual schools.  

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