What a society that works for autistic people really looks like – National Autistic Society Report

The National Autistic Society have published ‘The Moonshot Vision’ report, an ambitious vision for what society would look like if it were autism-friendly. Taking the views across the autistic community the report details Future Realities and Milestones describing the society that is wanted and the steps that will be needed to get there. The NAS ensured that autistic people were central to defining their vision and their report is shaped by autistic people’s wishes, ambitions and experiences.

The Moonshot Vision was created in line with the following principles to ensure it was:

• Applicable to all autistic people – it describes universal themes and changes that will impact everyone, regardless of age, needs or diagnosis. 
• Specific to autism – it relates to the particular experiences of autistic people, not just changes we want to see to society in general. 
• Written from a whole-society perspective – there may be some parts of this change that the National Autistic Society will not play a big role in. 
• Future proof – it will still be relevant as society changes over the coming decades. 
• Clear and concise – it uses language that can be understood by everyone. 

The Future Realities consists of five key things that an autism-friendly society would do:

The Milestones are arranged by areas of life and the future realities above. It identifies milestones in the fields of public understanding and representation; education; work and employment; before, during and after diagnosis; public services and specialist care; and families and support networks. The milestones are ambitious and align with nasen’s vision of inclusion by design and co-production.