designing and delivering autism- friendly services for justice professionals in northern ireland...
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Designing and delivering autism-friendly services for justice
professionals in Northern Ireland
Shirelle Stewart National
Director National Autistic Society Northern Ireland
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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’
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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.
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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
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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
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Creating Autism Friendly Public Services
Christine Watts
Environmental Services Manager
Northern Ireland Assembly
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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
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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
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Autism web page on the Assembly Site
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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…
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Contact Details
Shirelle Stewart Director National Autistic SocietyNorthern Ireland
59 Malone Road
Belfast BT9 6SA
Tel: 028 9068 7066
Mobile: 07789941239
Email: [email protected]
Christine Watts
Environmental Services Manager
Facilities Directorate/Office of The
Keeper
The Northern Ireland Assembly
Belfast, BT4 3XX
Tel: 02890 521265
Mobile: 07789757122
Email: