This blog post is in response to the new report released by the House of Lords on progress against the national autism strategy. At Seashell we support the most complex young people in the country. Many of whom have a dual diagnosis including autism. We welcome the report’s findings that within our society, there is now more awareness generally of neurodiversity.
However, we believe that there is still a long way to go to make sure that all individuals including those with the most complex needs are understood and accepted. We support the call for new mandatory training for people in public-facing roles. We would particularly encourage further training in relation to the awareness of learning disability, multi sensory impairment and autism. We have a decades of experience of supporting young people with dual and complex diagnosis and understand that support should be tailored to the individual, considering their needs holistically as individuals rather than a label. We need to ensure our young people have the same life chances as their peers and that autistic people with additional needs are not further prejudiced. This is why we are committed to building on our foundations to provide support to our young people and being aspirational with them. We want to achieve this by building on our current specialist training offers.
At Seashell, we already deliver specialist autism training and consultancy to external organisations. We are reviewing and updating our internal training offer to ensure that all colleagues have the knowledge and skills they need to provide the best support to the most complex autistic learners. This will include training that is co-produced and co-delivered by trainers with lived experience of autism and learning disability. We want to build on the national initiative of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training into the longer term. We want to ensure that we can support learners with multiple needs, including MSI and autism, to thrive.
Lifelong, stepped support
At Seashell, lifelong stepped support simply means giving the right level of help at the right time and adjusting that support as a person’s needs change. We will continue to provide individualised, specialist care and education for our dual diagnosis children and young adults, placing the person at the centre of every decision. We recognise that due to the dual diagnosis of our young people, support may be needed throughout their lives. However, we are clear that this should not come at the expense of promoting the independence of individuals.
At Seashell learners benefit from our multidisciplinary approach, with expert educational practitioners working alongside our on-site therapy team. We understand that truly integrated input across education, social care and health leads to the best outcomes. We have high expectations for every learner, and we are flexible and responsive in how we meet those expectations.
Building capability across education
The report highlights that specialist providers like Seashell should act as centres of excellence. We welcome this and feel that we have much to share. We are already moving in this direction through the development of our sharing of best practice, which will enable us to continue sharing our specialist practice with other specialist settings. This will involve training, consultancy, jointly commissioned projects, and direct support designed to improve the experiences of complex autistic pupils across all types of education.
For example, we are currently leading the SEND strand of the Place Partnership project in Stockport, working with organisations that deliver PE in schools and at holiday clubs to help them create more inclusive and equitable opportunities for neurodivergent children.
Better support for autistic people in employment
The report calls for improved employer training and better support for autistic people at work. Only 3 in 10 autistic people are in employment, and this figure has barely changed in almost 20 years. This isn’t due to a lack of desire to work but reflects the barriers that people face. In relation to those with additional needs including learning disability and multiple sensory impairment additional barriers are in place. In our College we are keen to promote independence pathways and workplace options.
Seashell’s Royal College Manchester provides bespoke and individualised training programmes to all organisations offering work experience placements to our students. These programmes are specifically designed to enhance employers’ understanding of neurodiversity and additional needs to equip them with effective strategies for supporting neurodiverse individuals within the workplace.
This training is delivered universally to our partner companies and has demonstrably contributed to improved outcomes in terms of paid employment opportunities for our students. By incorporating the voices of our learners directly into the training through sharing personal experiences and case studies, employers gain insights into both the challenges and the strengths associated with neurodiversity and additional needs.
The approach ensures that employers are not only better prepared to provide inclusive opportunities but also actively contribute to the creation of workplaces that recognise and value diversity. This model of partnership between education providers and employers represents a sustainable pathway to enhanced employability and long-term independence for young people with complex needs.
In conclusion, Seashell welcomes the House of Lords’ report and fully supports its ambitions. We are ready to lead change locally and nationally, both for the autistic young people with additional needs who come to Seashell and for those we may never meet but can still influence through training, partnership, and advocacy.
