Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

17 March 2025 - Autism Act 2009 - Oral evidence - Committees - UK Parliament

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · 19d

🧵[2/3]

To hear 👂 more of what Marsha and her fellow witnesses expressed to our committee, watch the entire 17 March evidence session on-demand ⏯️ here: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/... .

14:30 - Room 2A, Palace of Westminster

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · 19d

🧵[1/3]

On 17 March 2025, we heard from Marsha Martin, founder of Black SEN Mamas.

Marsha warned us: ‘’Without access to proper care, black autistic people are left to navigate life with untreated conditions, worsening health and a poor quality of life overall.’’

1 1 2

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · 20d

🧵[3]

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · 23d

🧵[2]

In March, we heard from Zaynab (Zeze) Sohawon, founder of Emotion Dysregulation in Autism.

Zeze told us: "I racked up just over £1 million for my NHS trust to spend on me being in a mental health unit that was not actually helping me very much"

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · 23d

🧵[1]

In the coming weeks, the Committee shall consider and agree its final report.

During this period, we shall be looking back at the valuable evidence we heard in the spring and summer from autistic people and their supporters. We plan to post some clips from the evidence we heard here.

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Sep 2

🧵[3]
The written evidence we've received should be carefully considered and used to help inform the Committee’s report.

2

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Sep 2

🧵[2]
We received over 360 submissions to our inquiry from people and organisations, including:
⭐ autistic individuals, family members and carers
⭐ professionals who work with autistic people
⭐ charities and support services
⭐ academics
⭐ local authorities and NHS bodies.

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Sep 2

🧵[1]
We’ve published the written evidence we received for our inquiry. These submissions can be found via the link here:
lnkd.in/euSNk6b3 .

Thank you to everyone who submitted their own evidence or helped others to contribute.

lnkd.in

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 21

🧵[5/5]
• a visit to Care Trade's employment scheme for autistic people at St Thomas' Hospital in Lambeth
• a visit to Phoenix School, a special school for autistic children and young people in Tower Hamlets

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 21

🧵[4/5]
• meetings with experts by experience and NHS and local authority professionals to discuss co-production and how to improve services for autistic people (facilitated by @NDTi)

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 21

🧵[3/5]
• a meeting with Autistic Champions, a group of autistic adults working with the House of Commons to help make Parliament more accessible
• a meeting with autistic young people + parents to discuss education access and transitions to adulthood (facilitated by @ambitiousautism.bsky.social)

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 21

🧵[2/5]
These summary notes span 4 meetings and 2 visits. Thank you to those who spoke to us and who helped us arrange these. Your evidence will help inform the Committee's report.

The next three posts briefly detail what each note covers.

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 21

🧵[1/5]
Since April 2025, the Committee has held private discussions with dozens of autistic people alongside their supporter and advocates.

The Committee has published summary notes of these discussion which can be read via the link below:
committees.parliament.uk/committee/77... .

Autism Act 2009 Committee - Written evidence - Committees - UK Parliament

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 10

🧵[4/4]
The Chair continued:
“We hope to publish the written evidence on our committee website by the time the House returns from the Summer Recess on 1 September.”
committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

The Committee plans to publish its report to the UK Government by 30 November 2025.

Written evidence submission publications for Autism Act 2009 Committee.

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 10

🧵[3/4]
The Chair💬 said:

“You have all shared with us powerful evidence that has left a very deep impression on all our members, and we are hugely indebted to you all.”

“The volume of written evidence that the committee has received is unprecedentedly large for a House of Lords committee.”

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 10

🧵[2/4]
The Chair thanked:
♾️ nearly 70 witnesses who have given oral evidence
♾️ about 400 individuals and organisations who have sent written evidence
♾️ dozens of autistic people and their allies who the Committee spoke to in private, including on visits to St Thomas’ Hospital and Phoenix School.

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 10

🧵[1/4]
At the end of the final public evidence session on 7 July, Committee Chair Baroness Rock thanked everyone who contributed to the inquiry and shared an update on when written evidence should be published.

Autism Act 2009 Committee - Oral evidence transcripts - Committees - UK Parliament

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 9

🧵[4]
The unamended transcript of the Committee's 7 July evidence session is now available to read via the link below.
committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

Oral evidence transcripts transcript publications for Autism Act 2009 Committee.

committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

1 4

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 9

Autism Act 2009 Committee - Oral evidence transcripts - Committees - UK Parliament

Oral evidence transcripts transcript publications for Autism Act 2009 Committee.

Autism Act 2009 Committee

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 4

🧵[3]
Watch the meeting live or on-demand here: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

Find out how to attend in person here: committees.parliament.uk/publications...
We have booked Committee Room 3a as a quiet room for any member of the public wishing to take a break due to sensory overload.

Parliamentlive.tv

parliamentlive.tv

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 4

🧵[2]
At 14:45 we hear from:
🌻Tim Nicholls @autisticsociety.bsky.social
🌻Dr James Cusack @autistica.org.uk
🌻Adam Micklethwaite @autismallianceuk.bsky.social
🌻Jolanta Lasota @ambitiousautism.bsky.social and @autismallianceuk.bsky.social

Autism Act 2009 Committee - Written evidence - Committees - UK Parliament

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 4

🧵[1]
On 7 July, we hold our final evidence session with national autism charities to reflect on the evidence we've heard, in particular on 30 June from central government.

Read written responses to our inquiry from these autism charities via the link: committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

Written evidence submission publications for Autism Act 2009 Committee.

1 2

House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee @hlautismactcom.parliament.uk · Jul 1

🧵 The unamended transcript of the Committee's 30 June evidence session is now available to read via the link below.