Autism FAQ for Managers in Scouts

Autism spectrum disorders are lifelong developmental disabilities characterised by marked difficulties in social interaction and social communication, and restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours.

The ‘autistic spectrum’ is the range and severity of the difficulties people with autism related disabilities experience. This can vary widely.

Autism is often diagnosed alongside other conditions. It's important to support people with more than one condition in a way that meets all their needs, while understanding that the needs arising from autism are distinct. In all cases work alongside the parents, carers and the young person to tailor
any discussions or adjustments to Scouting to meet the individual’s needs.

Most research shows that about 1 in 100 young people in the UK have an autistic spectrum disorder and that it is more prevalent in boys than girls. People from all nationalities and cultural, religious and social backgrounds can be autistic.

Yes. Leaders can have autism too; they may also require that a reasonable adjustment is made for them. Young People and adults with autism can be some of the most effective and responsible people in a leadership team.

When a leader or GSL comes forward to discuss any form of adjustment it is important to handle such information sensitively and respectfully. Keeping in line with GDPR good practice. You should start to ensure the following:

• A conversation between leaders, young person and parent/career has taken or is about to take place in a respectful manner to agree a way forward. Read the framework.
  
  
• That any adjustment is in line with POR and guidelines.
  
  
• The adjustment meets the needs of the young person.
  
  
• The adjustment does not impair or put unreasonable difficulty onto the group or section in terms of volunteer time or funding.
  
  
• That support for the leadership team is made available.
  
  
• A review time is included in every adjustment to check and review its progress.

Reasonable adjustments means actions to enable young people with additional needs and cultural needs to access Scouting and Scouting activities, as far as reasonably possible, to the same level as any other young person. This should involve working in partnership with parents/carers, to identify needs and plan support strategies. Keeping communication active, open and positive. We should also remember that Scouting when viewed from outside Scouting can be confusing, using acronyms, such as PL, YL, GSL, DC, CC are meaningless and confusing if not familiar with Scouting as a whole. When discussing Scouting and its structures use clear and consistent language to ensure no confusion or misinterpretation. A reasonable adjustment is an adjustment that is reasonable to the Young Person involved, the parents/carers, the volunteers/leaders and the Scout Group concerned

We can use the parent/carer conversation framework to start the discussion on making adjustments in the group. This approach makes everyone involved in all decision making and a part of the larger plan to support the Young Person. 

Reasonable adjustments should respond to the needs of the individual and aim to remove any barriers or support access, by adapting;

• Physical features (eg. the meeting place), Simple changes could be made to its layout, doorways, sound qualities, or colour. Addition of ramps, and accessible toilet facilities would only be a reasonable adjustment if within abilities of the group.
  
  
• The way things are done (eg. applying reasonable flexibility to age ranges, the Programme, routines, uniforms or award schemes.)
  
  
• Support provided (eg. equipment, adapting communication, level of support) parent/carer framework agreement
  
  
• A parent, carer or externally funded one to one support worker to work directly with the Young Person at Scout
  meetings & events. All carers or support workers, professional or informal will require a Scout DBS for all events.

Below is a list of a few things you can do to support young people with autism. You should find these straightforward and useful to start to make the adjustments. In most cases it is about being positive, being honest about your experience and knowledge.

Many of the structures and routines we adopt within Scouts support young people with a range of additional needs. Strategies we use such as our structured programme, regular meeting space, consistency in adult volunteers and even our uniform make a significant difference in enabling young people with Autism to enjoy and achieve in Scouts. These strategies support all young people, not just those with Autism, helping us to provide a welcoming environment.

It is sometimes this excellent practice which makes it difficult to appreciate when young people with Autism struggle to engage with specific activities, routines or games. One example would be a young person who can engage in a quiet, whole group, turn-based pack game in cubs who then struggles and becomes distressed in a noisy team game.

Thinking about individual differences and making small adjustments based on strengths can help to
fully include those on the autistic spectrum.

• Review how you promote and manage behaviour in the whole section. View challenging behaviour from an autistic Young Person as communication and not as a bad behaviour.
• Work in partnership with parent/carer to make all adjustments and review & monitor them regularly.
• Provide structure and routine.
• Explain what is happening now and next.
•  Prepare for changes or new situations.
• Manage the environment you are meeting in, consider how you can adjust the layout, lighting
  and sound in the space you have.
•  Ensure rules and expectations are made clear.
• Be positive, calm and caring.
• Be prepared and plan ahead.
• Undertake the training provided by The Scouts on Scouting for All, Additional Needs and the NAS eLearning on supporting young people and adults with Autism.
• Request additional training on Autism from the UK Specialist Advisors for Inclusion Team

It is important to build in a review time into any adjustments, this could be 2 weeks, 3 months or a year, whichever is suitable. Our recommendation is to review each term; this provides a regular opportunity for parents and carers to update on any changes whilst also allowing a space for you to raise any concerns. If at a review or in-between anyone involved on the plan feels it is not working, then return to the framework agreement approach to resolve and move the leaders, the young person and the parents/careers onwards to discuss overcoming any challenges or failures in adjustments. If a concern is raised over the plan, then it can be handled in the same approach.

Many young people exhibit challenging behaviour, but not all challenging behaviour is caused by autism. As with any challenging behaviour, when a young person with autism exhibits challenging behaviour, it is often a way of communicating. Work with leaders and parents/careers to discuss what the causes of this behaviour are and also how it can be overcome

A reasonable adjustment to Scouting should mean a way forward for all involved to be comfortable in their roles. Sometimes, at a review period of an adjustment or before it may be that a leader or leadership team is unhappy in the nature or impact of this adjustment. It is important to establish the cause of this; is it training related or is it detrimental to the group or section in anyway? Once you have assessed this cause, you can look at the adjustments and either suggest/organise additional training, or discuss the adjustment in accordance with the framework agreement.

Encourage your leadership teams to talk about how they are feeling about working with young people with additional needs, the challenges and successes. Ensure they know about the support mechanisms in place to support them. These could be:

 Working alongside your ADC or ACC Inclusion (or similar titles)
 Working alongside other managers to find out how they have managed similar situations
 Look at local organisations which offer training and support
 Aim to foster a welcoming and supportive Scout Group or District when viewed from outside of Scouting.

If a complaint is raised with you, it should be treated as all other complaints through the line management structure. If this complaint uses terminology, language or terms you are not familiar with then contact the Scout Support Centre on support@scouts.org.uk or 0345 3001818 for advice.

There is lots of extra information and support available on the members section of the website. 
There are two specific modules in the leader training on Scouting For All (7) and Making Reasonable Adjustments (36). 

The National Inclusion Team are available as a free resource to deliver inclusion workshops and seminars nationwide. This team of trainers can be invited to come to any event for specific sections, groups or whole district events to assist in delivery on training of all areas of inclusion for Leaders and Young Leaders.

The Inclusion and Diversity pages have a great deal of information on autism from ourselves and from the National Autistic Society. This resource offers support, guidance and way finding further support and information and in addition to this we are also working with NAS to produce more resources to support leadership teams, parents and young people.

If you encounter a problem or would like further information please speak to your District team or contact the Scout Support Centre. They can then put you in touch with either training, policy, safeguarding or inclusion support to assist you.