Autism Strategy Year One Plan
This page sets out the actions organisations in Norfolk will take from June 2024 to July 2025 to begin delivering Norfolk’s All Age Autism Strategy 2024 to 2029.
The plan is monitored by the Autism Strategy Oversight Group and progress is reported through Norfolk Autism Partnership structures and shared publicly through the NAP website.
June 2024 to July 2025
Published 26 November 2024
Year One Plan
What is included in the Year One Plan
The Year One Plan is organised around six priorities. Each priority includes what people said was important, what organisations will do, how success will be measured, and who will lead the work.
Priority 1 – Improved understanding and inclusion of autism
Understanding autism in society, public services, information and resources, and co-production.
Priority 2 – Improve access to education and support transitions into adulthood
Support in education settings, communication, home education support, and transitions into adulthood.
Priority 3 – Support adults into employment
Getting a job, support for employers, and routes into employment and education for adults.
Priority 4 – Tackle health inequalities for autistic people
Diagnosis, health services, and mental health services.
Priority 5 – Building the right support in the community
Early intervention, support for autistic people, social care services, housing and independent living.
Priority 6 – Improve support within the criminal and youth justice system
Early intervention, police and courts, prison support, and support on release.
Year One priorities and actions
Priority 1 – Improved understanding and inclusion of autism
Better understanding of autism in society
- Promote the co-produced one day Understanding Autism Course through social media and in-house delivery for professionals.
- Promote the free Autism Awareness e-learning through public events and workshops.
- Develop Autism Acceptance Week 2025 plans and investigate an annual autism information day.
- Support inclusive leisure and youth opportunities through the Local Area Inclusion Plan.
- Promote autism alert cards through the website, workshops, quick reference guides and public events.
- Explore an autism quality mark or kitemark linked to the Norfolk Autism Directory.
Understanding of autism in public services
- Continue targeted promotion and delivery of the Understanding Autism Course for public services.
- Expand Autism Reality Experience training in prisons and liaison and diversion services.
- Roll out Reasonable Adjustments are our Statutory Duty training and Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism.
- Develop neurodiversity e-learning for Norfolk County Council staff.
- Co-produce and publish a demand avoidance statement and share good practice examples online.
Information and resources / co-production
- Keep the Norfolk Autism Directory up to date and continue making one-page quick reference guides available.
- Publish current co-production and engagement opportunities on the NAP website.
- Support autistic people to co-deliver Oliver McGowan training.
- Promote the Board and strategy to younger autistic people and recruit new autistic members and parents or carers to the NAPB and working groups.
Priority 2 – Improve access to education and support transitions into adulthood
Support in education settings and communication
- Strengthen SEN support in mainstream schools through audits and accessibility self-evaluation.
- Put in place 10 tips for inclusion to help children and young people know their rights and advocate for themselves.
- Implement person-centred approaches in Annual Reviews and identify key contacts for post-16 providers.
- Increase staff training to support children and young people to give their views and co-produce a Know Your Rights for a Healthy Adult Life leaflet and animation.
Home education and transitions into adulthood
- Make autism resources and links available on the Elective Home Education Team website.
- Plan and record destination plans from Year 9 onwards to support successful transitions.
- Audit school to college transition arrangements, including reasonable adjustments for sensory and communication needs.
- Review Preparing for Adult Life allocation and referral systems to reduce waiting times.
Priority 3 – Support adults into employment
Getting a job and supporting employers
- Support more autistic adults into paid work through the Local Supported Employment Programme.
- Increase supported internships for young people with SEND, including autistic young people.
- Work with employers through the Skills and Employment Team to offer placements and paid work.
- Support more employers to sign up to the Disability Confident scheme, including adult social care employers.
Routes into employment and education for adults
- Support autistic adults known to Adult Social Services through the Norfolk Employment Service to access volunteering, work experience, training, education and paid employment.
Priority 4 – Tackle health inequalities for autistic people
Diagnosis
- Offer more children and young people’s autism assessments through partner organisations.
- Develop system-wide neurodiversity tools, community support approaches and a new model for referrals.
- Commission an adult autism diagnosis and support pathway.
- Improve pre- and post-diagnostic information and support, including a single place to find resources.
Health services
- Work with providers to understand access issues to specialist services such as speech and language therapy, sensory integration assessment and ARFID support.
- Improve adult neurodevelopmental pathways where people may be waiting for more than one assessment.
- Support GPs to check private diagnoses against NICE guidance and publish adult guidance on private diagnosis.
- Clarify what hospital support is available for autistic people without a learning disability and publish this on the website.
Mental health services
- Develop positive practice guides for NHS Talking Therapies staff supporting autistic people.
- Improve inpatient support through reasonable adjustment training.
- Increase the number of therapists and types of therapy for children and young people up to age 25.
- Set up a pilot Crisis Plus team and improve crisis planning, discharge and telephone support.
Priority 5 – Building the right support in the community
Early intervention and support for autistic people
- Continue working with libraries and other organisations to facilitate and promote support and social groups across the county.
- Promote the Recovery College Living Well with Autism course.
- Work with the University of East Anglia to bid for funding to research short-term support services for autistic people.
- Raise awareness of Autism Central for parents and carers.
Social care services
- Develop whole family approaches through Short Breaks and parent carer support.
- Increase respite through Shared Lives and the Short Breaks Strategy.
- Monitor autistic adults on waiting lists and consider how to reduce waiting times for social care assessment.
Housing and independent living
- Roll out the Norfolk Autism Adult Support Service to all Adult Social Services teams.
- Promote co-produced guides to social care assessments to improve communication and reduce complaints.
- Make Short Breaks applications easier for families.
- Promote supported living information and videos.
Priority 6 – Improve support within the criminal and youth justice system
Early intervention and police/courts
- Build on Early Intervention Forums to support children and young people at risk of offending.
- Shape exploitation prevention work with autistic people and set up a County Exploitation Oversight Group.
- Use the Independent Custody Visitors Scheme to check whether autistic people in police custody receive the right support.
Support while in prison and on release
- Promote one-page profiles and reasonable adjustments in prison settings.
- Improve prison environments, accessible activities and safe spaces for neurodivergent prisoners.
- Support autistic prisoners before release with travel confidence, one-page profiles and the new RECONNECT service.
Future plans
The PDF also includes future themes that are not fully covered in the Year One Plan and will be developed in later yearly plans.
Priority 1 future themes
Public understanding, autism friendly transport, advocacy, and safe places.
Priority 2 future themes
Wider school support, better resources, EHCP access, bullying, careers advice and stronger transitions support.
Priority 4 future themes
Annual health checks, better use of health passports, and wider improvement to adult and family support around diagnosis and health services.
Priority 5 and 6 future themes
Peer support, assistive technology, positive relationships, court adjustments, autism friendly offender programmes and clearer support on release from prison.
Download the full plan
If you want the full detail, including the full tables, measures and glossary, use the PDF version.
Download the full PDF