Stopping safely The Metropolitan Police Service has released a guide for police officers exercising stop and search powers on autistic people, and for autistic members of public who may be subject to a stop and search. More

More drugs The proportion of children in England on antipsychotics has doubled in the last two decades. The broader use of antipsychotics in autistic young people begs questions about the safety over time and more research on this topic is needed. More

Autistic? You're fired Being sacked suddenly and for seemingly no reason is an all-too-common autistic experience, and one of the most unfortunate and unfair aspects of this is the reason for termination often boils down to inaccurate assumptions about the person’s character and intentions, not poor job performance. More

Art of autism At two years of age, David Downes began to draw. It would be another few years before he learned to talk, and another 30 until his autism diagnosis. "I could draw before I could communicate. Looking back it was obvious but there wasn't as much awareness back then”. More 

Future scoping Fast forward to 2032, what should mental health, autism and learning disability services look like for service users and staff? In this podcast, Matthew Taylor talks to Andy Bell, interim chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, to unpack the answer. More

Two languages When parents learn their child has a developmental disability, they often have questions about what their child may or may not be able to do. For some families, one of these questions may be: “Will speaking two languages be detrimental to their development?” More

Speaking up In order to be an active participant in the transition planning process, your autistic teen needs to develop self-determination skills – the skills that enable individuals to speak up for what they want, what they’re interested in, and how they would like to accomplish it. More

Sport for all Youngsters with autism and learning difficulties are thriving in an inclusive club created just for them. Sean Baker used his own experience of autism to create Spectrum Sensory Sports. More

We want a tsar A report by National Autistic Society Scotland and Scottish Autism found that 96% of people surveyed support a commissioner to promote and protect the rights of autistic people. More 

Joined up thinking Gastro-intestinal conditions and autism seem to occur together. Accumulating research shows that there is more of an interplay between these conditions than previously understood, with ASD affecting GI conditions and GI conditions affecting ASD. More

Doctors on the spectrum “Autistic psychiatrists are an asset to medicine — but we need to better support them”. Conor Davidson, Royal College of Psychiatrists’ ‘Autism Champion’. More

Helping animals Teachers at a school for autistic students have turned to animals to work with their pupils. Springfields Academy, in Calne, has brought the farm to the pupils to avoid any anxiety which might come with leaving the familiar classroom setting. More

Big bill New legislation in Northern Ireland will introduce the creation of an autism information service and a cross-departmental autism training strategy. More

Help for hair A hair salon in Sheffield has created a specialised room to help autistic children get their hair cut in a less challenging environment. More

Cut it out Neurotypical nervous systems, wired for complex social lives, allow for effective sensory gating (automatically filtering out stimuli deemed unimportant - background noise). Autistic individuals have a harder time doing this. More

Kit full of understanding The North East Autism Society (NEAS) created the easy-to-follow Teacher’s Toolkit ahead of Autism Acceptance Week, which runs from March 28th until April 3rd.
The kit is packed full of educational videos, information about autism and neurodiversity, lesson plans and activity ideas designed to teach children and young people about difference. More

Autistic and Expecting Check out this unique and practical book on managing autistic pregnancy, childbirth and the post-natal period for autistic parents and for the health and social care practitioners who may support them. More

Explaining the spectrum “It is so important for my students to see that people with Asperger’s, autism or other communication issues can be successful and live fulfilling lives. Nothing explains this better than hearing it from them directly.” More

​Pathway to better lives Some of the world’s leading experts on autism have published a redesigned care pathway for autistic children and their families based on early detection and family involvement. More

Police aware Phillip Millichap, a police community support officer (PCSO) with autism is championing neurodiversity throughout his force. More

Positive pastures Farming can change the lives of young autistic people. A group of autistic young farm workers say the job has saved them from a potential life of isolation and boredom. More

​Deep look at sleep Ashura Buckley has been working to decode the meaning of brain activity that occurs during sleep. In November, she launched a project to assess the genetics, sleep and behavior of neurotypical children and those who have been flagged for, diagnosed with or have an older sibling with a neurodevelopmental condition, such as autism. More