Special Educational Needs: Autism

(asked on 25th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that children with (a) autism and (b) high-functioning autism (i) have access to therapy while schools are closed and (ii) will continue to have access to that therapy once schools re-open as part of the education route map.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 2nd March 2021

During periods of national lockdown, settings have remained open to vulnerable children and young people, including those with education, health and care (EHC) plans.

Our guidance clearly states that therapists and other professionals have been able to continue to visit education settings to provide therapies and support during this period. We have worked with health partners to promote collaborative working between education settings, local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and health providers to agree appropriate support throughout this period.

Where children and young people with EHC plans are not attending their education setting, multi-agency professionals should collaborate to agree how the provision set out in the EHC plan can be delivered. This may include face-to-face visits to the home, or virtual support by means of video, telephone calls or email.

When schools and colleges open more widely they should, along with the local authority and health partners, work with families to co-produce arrangements for delivering all therapies and support that would normally be in place, including for those with autism.

In addition, the Department has provided £600,000 in 2020-21 to the Autism Education Trust to deliver autism training and good practice support to the education workforce. This includes a dedicated COVID-19 information hub which contains guidance, tools and information for education staff and families.

Reticulating Splines