The Scottish Strategy for Autism Progress Report - Foundation Stage (2 Years)

Annex 2

Additional background

The Strategy's Goals are in place to help make sure we have addressed all the recommendations by the time the Strategy concludes. We have divided the goals into three parts: Foundation (by 2 years), Whole-life journey (by 5 years), and Holistic-personalised approaches (by 10 years). Some goals will principally be for one discipline to deliver, whilst others will require a multi-directional response. All goals and recommendations will be fully explored through the production of a work plan to ensure that the recommendations are appropriate and fulfilled in the time frame.

Foundation (by 2 years)

1. Access to mainstream services where these are appropriate to meet individual needs
2. Access to services which understand and are able to meet the needs of people specifically related to their autism
3. Removal of short-term barriers such as unaddressed diagnosis and delayed intervention
4. Access to appropriate post-diagnostic support for families and individuals (particularly when there is a late diagnosis)
5. Implementation of existing commissioning guidelines by local authorities, the NHS and other relevant service providers