Designing and delivering autism-friendly services for justice

professionals in Northern Ireland

Shirelle Stewart National

Director National Autistic Society Northern Ireland

The National Autistic Society

• A UK wide organisation working in England Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

• Founded in 1962 in West London by a group of frustrated parents who had been told that their children could not be educated

• In 1965 they opened the Sybil Elgar school the first autism specific school in the world.

• In 1974 the first specialist service for adults with autism was opened.

• 50 years on the National Autistic Society is still run and governed by parents.

• It is the largest organisation for people with autistic spectrum disorders in the UK.

Autism Act (NI)

• The National Autistic Society Northern Ireland (NAS) supported and consulted with organisations lobbying for the Autism Act

• The Autism Act (NI) 2011 received royal assent on the 9th May 2011

• Came into operation on the 9th August 2011.

• The Act has two main effects:

1. To amend the Disability Discrimination Act by extending the criteria

2. To produce a cross-departmental autism strategy

The Bill was a private members bill sponsored by Dominic Bradley MLA

Developing the Guide for Justice Professionals

• NAS sat on the Autism Strategy Project Board and the Implementation Project Board

• NAS worked and consulted with different government departments

• An action contained within the Autism Strategy and Action Plan to develop a guide to increase awareness of autism amongst criminal justice professionals

• NAS had produced an English guide.

• NAS reworked the guide in consultation with the DOJ

• In 2014 the guide was launched by Minister David Ford, Minister of Justice

Key elements of the guide

• Assist all professionals working in the criminal justice system who may come in to contact with a person with autism

• Person maybe a victim of crime, a witness, suspect or an offender

• Contains real life examples and personal accounts by professionals parents/ carers and people with autism

• Not intended to equip criminal justice professionals to diagnose but ...

• Help professionals to work with someone they believe to be on the spectrum

• Outlines techniques to help you communicate with someone with autism

• Guidance on the interview process and on keeping the situation calm

http://www.dojni.gov.uk/autism-a-guide-for-criminal-justice-professionals

Support from the DOJ

• A senior person within the DOJ was on the Autism Spectrum and pushed the promotion of the guide

• The guide circulated via the criminal law committee, the criminal bar association

• Article in the Law Society’s Writ

• Good feedback from the senior coroner in NI

• DOJ and ILP held a conference on Autism and Vulnerable Witness for justice professionals. NAS and an Autistic adult presented at the conference

• NAS delivered an awareness session to law students in Queen’s University Belfast

• NAS conducted Awareness Training with senior management in Probation Service

Beneficial Partnerships

• The NAS reworked the Autism Guide for the DOJ

• Helped the DOJ to meet their obligations under the Autism Strategy

• The DOJ provided the NAS with legal guidance on crisis management

• The NAS works in partnership with government departments and other organisations to increase awareness and understanding of people with autism

• The NAS has a very productive and beneficial partnership with the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission

• Led to the development of the Stormont Standards and the first ever Autism Access Award

Northern Ireland Assembly Commission

• The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission and its Secretariat serve and support the Assembly in its role of representing the interests of the electorate in making effective legislation

• Influencing the Executive and holding it to account.

• Working continuously to make Parliament Buildings as accessible as possible to as wide a range of people as possible for several years

• Major physical works including extensive disability access work in 2005/2006

• Installation of ramps across the front entrance to Parliament Buildings in 2012

Partnership with the Commission

• Christine Watts from the Commission contacted the NAS

• Meeting to discuss how the Commission could provide autism friendly public services

• The NAS consultation group went on a mystery shop/ tour of the Assembly without the Assembly’s knowledge

• The group reported back to the NAS on their experience

• Discussed the accessibility of the Assembly for people with autism

Developing the Autism Access Award

• After the mystery shop the NAS and the Commission met with a group of autistic adults and parents of young people with autism

• Listened to their opinions on the visit and their recommendations for any improvements to make the Assembly autism friendly

• The National Autistic Society (NAS) explained their existing accreditation process and what they would like for public buildings.

• Autism Accreditation was established in 1992. It is an autism-specific quality assurance scheme

• The Commission became the first organisation to work with the NAS to formulate an Autism Access Award and to seek accreditation.

Developing the Stormont Standards

• The NAS, the Commission and the autism working group worked very hard to develop and deliver a set of standards specifically for public bodies

• These standards provided public bodies with the criteria they needed to work towards to achieve the ‘Autism Access Award’.

• After lots of negotiation and consultation a set of standards was agreed. These are now called the ‘Stormont Standards’

The Autism Access Award

• The Autism Access Award demonstrates that an organisation is committed to being autism-friendly

• The award is given to services that have made adjustments so that people with autism, their families and carers, find it easier to visit and use them.

• Public services must demonstrate that staff received training so that they can understand and adapt to the needs of people with autism

• Services must also demonstrate that they has consulted people with autism, their families and carers and acted on their feedback

• In 2011 the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission applied for the Access Award with support from the NAS.

• In 2012 the Commission were the first organisation to achieve this Award.

Application Process for the Award

• An organisation registers on the NAS Website

• Undertakes a self assessment of services using guidance documents on the NAS website

• A National Autistic Society consultant completes a bench marking exercise and gap analysis

• The consultant creates an action plan to improve autism awareness and to make services/ facilities more accessible to people with autism

• The NAS carries out an audit looking at information provided by the service, e.g. policies, procedures, promotional materials website content etc customer feedback

• An expert award panel decides which services should receive the Autism Access Award

Fantastic Initiative• The Autism Access Award has been a fantastic initiative

• The following organisations have now received the Award:

- National Assembly for Wales

- Theatre Royal, Newcastle - Scottish Parliament - Parliamentary Headquarters

- Royal Air Force Museum London

- Queens Park Rangers Football Club. Loftus Road Stadium

• Other organisations working towards the award

- The Gate restaurant, Islington, London - Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - Inverness Airport - Middlesborough CAB Advocacy Service

Creating Autism Friendly Public Services

Christine Watts

Environmental Services Manager

Northern Ireland Assembly

Key Elements

• The partnership we developed with the NAS

• Our commitment to that partnership

• We were the first organisation to work with the NAS to develop the Stormont Standards and the first ever Autism Access Award

• Endorsement and support from the Assembly Commission and Senior Management

• Director of Facilities became an Autism Champion

• Communicated autism initiatives clearly to staff

• Secured staff’s support

Autism Friendly Public Services

• In 2011 staff from Building Services Branch and the autism working group developed a plan for providing autism friendly public services

• Minor physical changes to the building such as setting up a ‘Quiet Room’ behind the reception area

• Specific signage

• A video giving an overview of everything involved in visiting the Assembly, including coming through security and the sound of our fire alarm.

• A dedicated web page

- http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/visit-and-learning/autism-and-the-assembly/

• A range of how to guides on the website on how to consult with people with autism on the web page

Autism web page on the Assembly Site

Autism Friendly Public Services

• Autism awareness training rolled out to all front line staff

• Staff became Autism Champions. Autism champions are listed on the webpage.

• Champions can be contacted directly for help and assistance by people visiting the Assembly.

Organisational Learning

• The hardest thing was changing the Northern Ireland Assembly's webpage to make it more accessible for people using the site.

• The website, video and regular consultation with NAS and the autism support group took up a great deal of time but worth it!

• Concern about getting the staff engaged but 90 frontline staff volunteered for training

• 13 trained autism champions including Director of Facilities

• Costs were minimal which was important as we had no allocated budget for the work

• Listening to and working with people with autism was one of the most important parts of the project

• Invite an autism group to your work to ask their opinion – get valuable and honest feedback.

Outcomes

• Made the building and our services more accessible to anyone on the spectrum.

• Our front line staff /staff in general are more engaged and aware of the types of visitors to the building.

• Staff ensure they are as approachable as possible.

• Winning the Autism Access Award has been fantastic for the Commission!

• I personally enjoy being an autism champion

• It will be even better when other places become part of it, such as leisure centres, cinemas, and public transport etc.

Next Steps for the Assembly

• The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission is always looking at new ways to integrate practices that make Parliament Buildings more accessible

• The Northern Ireland Assembly will continue to review, update and improve all of the services that we provide to people on the autistic spectrum

• A range of work is planned for the next year so watch this space…

Contact Details

Shirelle Stewart Director National Autistic SocietyNorthern Ireland

59 Malone Road

Belfast BT9 6SA

Tel: 028 9068 7066

Mobile: 07789941239

Email: shirelle.stewart@nas.org.uk

Christine Watts

Environmental Services Manager

Facilities Directorate/Office of The

Keeper

The Northern Ireland Assembly

Belfast, BT4 3XX

Tel: 02890 521265

Mobile: 07789757122

Email:

Christine.Watts@niassembly.gov.uk