Increasing awareness and understanding of autism
Frontline staff, from GPs to benefits advisers, acknowledge that their understanding of autism is limited.
While most professionals know something about autism, they do not necessarily understand how autism affects people. This makes it hard for them to recognise autism and communicate appropriately with people with autism. It also means they may not know how to adapt their behaviour and their services to support people with autism.
The autism strategy commits to increasing understanding of autism by improving autism awareness training for all frontline public service staff, in line with the needs of their job, and developing specialist training for staff in health and social care.