Latest News

Around 300,000 children, including those with conditions such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, will be better supported to achieve and thrive as the government expands successful programme to help boost attendance and behaviour. Backed by £9.5 million in government funding, the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme – which supports neurodiverse students by training teachers to identify and better meet their needs and improves parental engagement – will be extended for another year across a further 1,200 schools.

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”.