As many of you may know, I am incredibly passionate about advocating for autistic individuals, especially when it comes to their communication needs.

As a family, we feel like we were totally failed by the NHS Speech Therapy system in terms of knowledge of how to give direct therapy to the autistic individual in front of them, all things AAC & Speech Disorders such as Apraxia – & I have spoken to 100s of families who feel the same. To be clear this isn’t criticism of Speech Therapists as individuals – this is criticism of the systems & the outdated training & criteria. – but the conclusion of all this is that many autistic children are being failed over & over again & they never get the support they need to communicate, however this communication may look.

I have spoken time & time again to families like mine & the time has come to take action. I am planning a campaign [details to follow!] – involving a parliamentary petition – with plans to introduce mandatory training to NHS Speech Therapists & those currently training & working to make changes to the NHS AAC Funding criteria, which I feel is currently unsuitable for autistic individuals. The training isn’t to make all Speech Therapists experts in autism, AAC & Apraxia – it’s to give them the confidence to recommend, refer, support & help the autistic individual in front of them at such a vulnerable time for all involved. It’s to flip the perspective away from families leaving with no support, to therapists able to say I’m not an expert but read this, contact this organisation, try this at home etc. This alone I feel would be lifechanging for many. I hope to create more Autism, AAC & Apraxia advocates within the profession – lifechanging.

I firmly believe Speech Therapy [the systems, not the individuals] is failing autistic children, especially those with high needs & I would LOVE your support for this campaign.

Please get in touch via message or to [email protected] if you can support. In the meantime, I am gathering stories [I already have over 50] from families & Speech Therapists [NHS & Independent] to hear lived experience to support the campaign.

I would love you to share your story if you can!

Form for families: https://forms.gle/D7BbsQPyqvGgbErcA

Form for NHS Speech Therapists: https://forms.gle/nQqCJkLQqewcH4B8A

Form for Independent Speech Therapists: https://forms.gle/YexT3CHNvnsDrRkw8