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Almost a decade ago, the NHS launched a campaign to reduce psychotropic medication rates. The initiative, stopping overmedication of people with learning disabilities and autism (STOMP), went hand-in-hand with efforts to reduce the number of people in mental health hospitals.

Subjected to brutal bullying as a child, Amit Ghose says he still has to deal with constant staring, pointing and comments, and has even been refused service in a cafe because of his face. The 35-year-old from Birmingham described how visiting an independent coffee shop in London recently “everyone was staring at me, and it was like they’d almost seen a ghost”.

Employers are reporting more, and more varied, emotional support animals in workplaces. The only problem Kathy has encountered taking her emotional support rabbit into work is when a new colleague wanted to bring in her emotional support dog.

A man has said A&E departments are “unbearable” and “terrifying” for his autistic son due to the overwhelming sensory environment they create. Robert Cummings, 49, from Merthyr Tydfil, has spent many “stressful” hours in hospital with his six-year-old son Ellis, who becomes distressed by the “bright lights, loud noises, and unfamiliar faces”.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has refused to apologise after repeatedly misleading MPs by suggesting that her planned cuts of billions of pounds to personal independence payment (PIP) were linked to supporting disabled people into work.