Following the departure of Jolanta Lasota, CEO of specialist autism education charity Ambitious about Autism at the end of her three-year term leading the AET’s Board, the AET has appointed Adam Micklethwaite as Chair for the next three-year period.

Adam is currently Director of the Autism Alliance UK, bringing together charities that support autistic people and their families, and as well as charity leadership brings experience as a senior civil servant working in education and skills.

Supported by the Department for Education, the Autism Education Trust’s mission is to transform mainstream education so that every school can be accessible and inclusive for autistic pupils. Working closely with Nasen, the AET offers a wide range of resources and a powerful change programme for practice and leadership, focusing specifically on autism but deliverable as part of a whole school approach to SEND.

In the next term of Government, the Trust’s priority is to reach many more settings across England, including both maintained schools and academies, so that as many as possible can include and support autistic pupils. The Trust’s programme helps schools accommodate autistic children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan, and also those without, who still have needs to meet as the basis for learning. This can lead to improved attendance and achievement, reduced exclusions, and changes to the learning environment that can benefit all pupils.

Inclusive practice that supports autistic children and young people is part of the Children and Families Act 2014 and SEND Code of Practice, and also important in an economic context. Autistic people have one of the lowest employment rates of any group, due in part to poor experiences of education, and doubling this employment rate could add £1.5 billion to the economy each year across the UK.