Welcome to our autumn 2025 newsletter. We hope you enjoy catching up with what has been happening over the last few months.
As always, please direct any enquiries or feedback to info@atautism.org.
Directors Take
In this newsletter, Linda Woodcock, Director and Head of Families and Support, shares her thoughts on the SEND Review 2025.
In January this year, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee produced a report in which they called for urgent action to improve a system they said was failing children with special educational needs and their families.
There is a need for reforms, no doubt, as statistics show that 98% of cases taken to tribunal find in favour of families. However, the Government’s long awaited SEND review, which was due this autumn, has been postponed until early next year.
This ongoing uncertainty is compounding the stress parents are already experiencing. It also means that ministers may be reconsidering unwelcome proposals including restricting Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs). We continue to support families and will return to this topic when the white paper is published.
AT-Autism Conference, 8th October 2025
‘Autism: the art of the possible’: It’s what I do that counts
Our conference this year was on the theme of ‘Autism: The Art of the Possible’ and was held at Church House Westminster, Dean’s Yard, London SW1P 3NZ on Wednesday 8th October 2025.
We welcomed fantastic speakers, who spoke to the themes of Homes not Hospitals, Changing Minds, Embracing Change and Participatory Research. Our thanks to Andrew Reece, Lucy Dunstan, Linda Woodcock, Catherine Dakin, Heba Al-Jayoosi, Zahilah Filzah Zulkifli, Alia Lewis, Joe Powell, Ken Greaves and Damian Milton.
Heba Al-Jayoosi talked about the approach of the award-winning Mayflower School in Tower Hamlets.
Andrew Reece and Lucy Dunstan talked about their award-winning work in supporting ‘Kasibba’ to escape nearly 50 years of inappropriate detention.
We were grateful to Ann Memmott for providing threads on the day’s proceedings over on Blue Sky. You can catch up here: Post by @annmemmott.bsky.social-bluesky
Delegates were able to discuss the presentations in table groups, facilitated by a cabaret-style layout, working together to share views, good practice and consider what action might mean for them as individuals. This was a collective experience where everyone’s voice was valued and there were opportunities to reflect on practice.
“A brilliant opportunity to step back into the community of stellar professionals committed to change. I have loved the range of speakers and working across all ages, stages and professional boundaries. Thank you.”
Conference Delegate
Courses and services
Training
We began delivering training based on the revised 3rd Edition on the SPELL Framework.
The Foundation level training day has been delivered to individuals online. The second day of training is a Train-the-Trainer day, which is delivered in person.
For more information, please visit: Spell Framework – AT-Autism
‘The training was great and it was fantastic to have colleagues from different professions join us. We’re looking forward to sharing the SPELL framework with our colleagues.’
Course Delegate
The 3rd Edition is now available to pre-order from Pavilion Publishing: Understanding and Responding to Autism: The SPELL framework (3rd edition) Training Pack
Synergy
At the beginning of June, Chris Atkins, Head of Education & Social Care, and Richard Mills, Head of Research, Evaluation, and Clinical Support, visited Singapore to train staff from the St Andrew’s Autism _ Centre (SAAC) in the Synergy Programme. SAAC was established in 2005 to meet a growing need to serve autistic people with quality education, training, and care. Today, over 470 individuals are supported by a Special Education School, Day Activity Centres and Singapore’s first Adult Residential Service.
A total of around 200 delegates including staff from the centre, parents, and other professionals attended two Introductory Workshops, two Practice Workshops and a Mentor Workshop. We were truly spoiled by our kind, attentive hosts and would like to thank all involved for a fantastic experience!
All services in our Synergy Programme are supported by regular online Community of Practice (CoP) meetings where groups of professionals who have the common interest of developing their understanding, come together to learn, share knowledge and experiences, and improve their practice through ongoing interaction.
This builds local capacity and expertise and enables members to reflect on challenges and successes, share good practice and improve outcomes for all.
Coaching Autistic People through Sport
AT-Autism have partnered with Strong Path to develop and deliver a new course, aimed at removing the barriers to sport and fitness for autistic people. This industry-endorsed course is accredited by CIMSPA.
For further information on this 2-day course, please email info@atautism.org.
Additional training
We have continued to provide training on a range of other topics, including:
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Understanding autism
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Introduction to neurodiversity
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Neurodiversity in the workplace (health; third sector)
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School exclusions and non-attendance
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Relationships and mental health
Delegates ranged from qualified and trainee teachers, sports coaches, mental health practitioners, learning disability nurses to third sector employees.
“Thanks for organising this – it was a brilliant session, and I am very grateful for the insights that were provided. I really liked how practical the advice was – very easy to adopt into daily practice, without a major overhaul of how we work.”
Delegate on ‘Neurodiversity in the workplace’ course
“I contacted AT Autism with specific requirements for training a staff group of mental health professionals. From the very start, the AT-Autism team were responsive, keen to understand and work with our service needs. On attending the training in person, I found them to be very knowledgeable, engaging trainers who are experts in understanding and supporting autistic people. I look forward to working with AT-Autism again in the future”.
Delegate, Integrated Mental Health Services
“Really great teaching session, thank you! Lots to think about and, there is so much within this teaching that is applicable in our practice. Will be using aspects from today to support a young person experiencing EBSA, who currently struggles with friendships.”
Delegate on ‘School exclusions and non-attendance’ course
“Love, love today. Good pace, great content. Very thought provoking. Thank you, looking forward to part 2.”
Delegate on ‘Introduction to neurodiversity’ course Read more about our training here
Consultancy and clinical support
We are excited to be working with Donaldson’s Scotland on the development, implementation and evaluation of a wellbeing curriculum. This reflects the domains of the well-established and internationally validated Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI). This approach provides people with a clearly defined framework that focuses on their subjective wellbeing.
Also, at Donaldson’s we continue our roll out of SPELL and the Synergy programme with staff, and are extending Synergy for application with the young people to help them to identify and reduce their stress and manage their emotional wellbeing.
Additional consultancy projects include working with Play Included and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, on the development of a LEGO Fortnite game with neurodivergent characters and scenarios.
Research and evaluation
Some examples of our recent work include:
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The continued support of the Inspire Foundation Malta through the evaluation of its LinC programme for children excluded from education. This has included eliciting parental views and feedback and the implementation of the service development plan. This has been well received and has seen an expansion of the resources to include a sensory playground. Richard Mills and Ruth Moyse are members of the Foundation’s Research and Innovation Council, with colleagues from academic institutions and other organisations on the island.
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Our work with the Donaldson Trust Scotland continues with the evaluation of key programmes and training support. This included Synergy training for the Trust and colleagues from Japan and training in de-escalation for Trust staff.
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Our independent evaluation of the Anna Freud Autism and Wellbeing in Schools (AWIS) programme is nearing completion. One of the schools visited, Henley Green School in Coventry, was awarded two free places at our London conference in recognition of their inclusivity.
Other news
We have spoken at a number of conferences and events during the year, including the Autism Europe’s 14th International Congress in Dublin.
Chris Atkins gave a talk on the Affinity Programme, our highly successful peer mentoring programme run in collaboration with Scottish Autism.
Richard Mills and Ruth Moyse also presented posters on the Synergy Programme and on the NHS-commissioned National Autism Trainer Programme respectively.