Extended consultation for Supporting Children guideline

Hello, I’m David Trembath and thank you for your interest in the development of the national practice guideline. On behalf of the Guideline Development Group, I would like to say thank you for be willing to contribute.

We’re current engaged in a community consultation, which means we would love to hear from you, and all members of the autistic and autism community(ies).

We have a number of activities that you can get involved in.

The first is an online survey that asks for your views about therapies and supports. It’s open to all members of the autistic and autism community(ies).

We’ve also developed four activities that are specifically designed for children, young people, and adults, including people of all ages who communicate mainly in ways other than speech.

The first is an online survey. It is essentially the same survey that is available to the broader community. We recognise that some autistic young people may also be willing and able to complete this survey, so we have made it available.

The second activity is a brief survey, that focuses on three main questions about therapies and supports. We hope that by making it shorter, it will be more accessible to autistic children, young people, and adults, including people of all ages who communicate mainly in ways other than speech.

The third activity is about expression through art. We invite autistic children, young people, and adults to share their views and experiences via a drawing, a painting, a sketch: a piece of artwork.

The fourth activity is one in which we invite parents to share their observations about their children accessing therapies and supports. This can be parents whose children are currently accessing those supports, or parents reflecting on their children’s experiences in the past.

So there are a number of activities.

Thank you very much for your interesting in contributing to the development of the National Practice Guideline.