EQUALS Project
Ethical Quality Autistic-Led Support (EQUALS) is a project run by the University of Sussex in collaboration with the National Autistic Taskforce. In 2019, the National Autistic Taskforce produced the NAT Guide, an independent guide to quality care for autistic people. The EQUALS project aims to build on this foundation by trialling ways of implementing the NAT Guide in supported living and residential social care services, providing materials to guide that implementation.
Read more about the EQUALS project.
Scottish Autism Inclusive Governance Project
The Scottish Autism Inclusive Governance Project was conducted by three autistic-led organisations, the National Autistic Taskforce (NAT), Autism Rights Group Highland (ARGH) and Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh (AMASE), on behalf of Scottish Autism, Scotland’s largest provider of autism-specific services and a leading authority and advocate for good autism practice. The project ran from 2021 to 2023.
The project team engaged with Scottish Autism’s supported individuals and their families, board of trustees, senior and wider leadership team, staff and the wider autistic community to develop an inclusive governance approach that would maximise participation amongst the charity’s key stakeholders.
Read more about the Scottish Autism Inclusive Governance Project.
National Autism Project
The National Autism Project (NAP) was an initiative supported by The Shirley Foundation that aimed to provide authoritative recommendations on autism research and practice which have demonstrable effectiveness in benefiting autistic people and their communities. Critical to the success of the project was an advisory panel of autistic people who provided expert input and critique throughout.
The project ended in 2017 with the publication of The Autism Dividend, a comprehensive study of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of autism interventions. The National Autistic Taskforce was established as an offshoot of NAP and its advisory panel to enable the voices and knowledge of autistic people to continue to impact national policy and local delivery.