National Autistic Society

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{{Infobox organization

| name = The National Autistic Society

| logo = File:National Autistic Society Logo 2018.png

| type = Registered charity

| founded_date = {{start date and age|1962|01|23|df=y}}

| founder = {{longitem|Group of London-based parents}}

| location = London, UK

| origins = | key_people =

| area_served = United Kingdom

| focus = {{longitem|Supporting the rights and interests of all autistic people}}

| method =

| revenue = {{citation needed span|£88 million|date=April 2018}}

| revenue_year = 2012–13

| endowment =

| num_volunteers =

| num_volunteers_year =

| num_employees = {{citation needed span|3,630|date=April 2018}}

| num_members = 20,000{{cite web |url=https://www.autism.org.uk/shop/nas-membership.aspx |title=National Autistic Society membership |work=National Autistic Society (www.autism.org.uk) |access-date=19 April 2020}}

| num_members_year = 2020–present

| subsid =

| owner =

| homepage = {{URL|www.autism.org.uk}}

| dissolved =

| footnotes =

}}

The National Autistic Society is a charity for autistic people and their families in the United Kingdom. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, services and opportunities to help create a society that works for autistic people.

The National Autistic Society is funded through UK government grants and voluntary contributions. The Chief Executive as of {{currentyear}} is Caroline Stevens. She took over from Mark Lever in 2019, after being Chief Executive at Kids for six years.{{cite web |title=Our leadership team |url=https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/who-we-are/our-leadership-team#:~:text=Caroline%20Stevens%20%2D%20Chief%20Executive&text=She%20was%20Chief%20Executive%20of,also%20has%20an%20autistic%20son. |website=www.autism.org.uk |access-date=23 May 2024 |language=en}}

History

The organisation was founded on 23 January 1962 as the Society for Psychotic Children by parents of autistic children living in the area, with the assistance of a member from the Spastics Society (later Scope).{{cite web|url=http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=2183&d=364|title=Perspectives on a puzzle piece|last=Allison|first=Helen Green|date=June 1997|publisher=National Autistic Society (www.nas.org.uk) |access-date=1 July 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://archive.today/20040225071530/http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=2183&d=364|archive-date=25 February 2004}}{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Chloe |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005–2008 |chapter=Elgar [née Craymer], Sybil Lillian (1914–2007)|date=7 March 2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-967154-0 |page=344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbGcAQAAQBAJ}} Its origins were as a self-help group involving both parents and professionals.{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Jonathan |last2=Yule |first2=William |last3=Taylor |first3=Eric A. |title=Research and Innovation on the Road to Modern Child Psychiatry |date=2001 |publisher=RCPsych Publications |isbn=978-1-901242-62-1 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOpDl87suO8C&pg=PA58 |language=en}} It was renamed the Society for Autistic Children later that year,{{cite news |last1=Chaloner |first1=Len |title=The autistic child |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85758031/the-guardian/ |work=The Guardian |date=17 December 1962 |pages=4}} the National Society for Autistic Children in 1966, and the National Autistic Society in 1975.

In 1963, Gerald Gasson, a parent and member of the executive committee, designed the primary symbol for autism: a puzzle piece with a picture of a crying child inside of it, which was first used as logo by the NAS itself.{{cite web |title=National Autistic Society Timeline – 1963. First NAS logo developed |url=http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/21729/Our-story-so-far/#vars!panel=193670! |publisher=National Autistic Society (www.tiki-toki.com) |access-date=2 April 2017}}{{cite journal |author1=Grinker, Roy Richard |author-link=Roy Richard Grinker |author2=Mandell, David |title=Notes on a puzzle piece |date=1 June 2015 |journal=Autism |publisher=SAGE Publications |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=643–645|doi=10.1177/1362361315589293 |pmid=26378295 |s2cid=21016160 }}{{cite web |first=Debra |last=Muzikar |title=The Autism Puzzle Piece: A symbol that's going to stay or go? |url=http://the-art-of-autism.com/the-autism-puzzle-piece-a-symbol-of-what/ |website=The Art of Autism |date=20 April 2015 |access-date=1 April 2017}} In 1965, The Society School for Autistic Children was established, later renamed as the Sybil Elgar School after their first principal.{{cite web|title=Our Story So Far|url=http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/21729/Our-story-so-far/#vars!date=1951-09-02_06:02:12! |publisher=National Autistic Society (www.tiki-toki.com) |access-date=20 December 2017}} It was described as "the first of its kind in the UK, and, it is thought, the world", and quickly became an example for how autistic people should be taught, and influenced the TEACCH methods in the US.

Activities

The National Autistic society is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism.{{cite web|url=http://www.appga.org.uk/about-us/advisory-group.aspx |title=Advisory group – All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism |website=www.appga.org.uk |access-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126210003/http://www.appga.org.uk/about-us/advisory-group.aspx |archive-date=26 January 2018 |url-status=dead}} It is also a founding member of Autism-Europe.

Organisation

Over 3,000 people work for the National Autistic Society in schools and services as well as training, fundraising, policy and campaigns teams. Its president is Jane Asher and the patron is the Duchess of Edinburgh.{{cite web|url=http://www.autism.org.uk/structure |title=Our structure and people |publisher=National Autistic Society (www.autism.org.uk) |access-date=17 April 2018}}

List of National Autistic Society schools and facilities

=Present schools and facilities=

The National Autistic Society manages a number of schools in the United Kingdom:

Name of NAS School ! Location(s) ! County ! Year first opened ! Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
Helen Allison School	Gravesend (originally) followed by near Meopham	Kent	ALIGN="center"\|1968	Weekly & Termly boarding and Day learning school for pupils/students aged between 4 and 22 years old, which opened 3 years after Sybil Elgar School opened.{{cite web\|url=http://www.autism.org.uk/helenallison\|title=Helen Allison School – The National Autistic Society – NAS\|publisher=National Autistic Society (www.autism.org.uk)}}
Radlett Lodge School	Hatfield (on temporary occasions) and in (mainly) Radlett	Hertfordshire	ALIGN="center"\|1974	Weekly boarding and Day learning school for pupils/students aged between 4 and 22 years old, which opened on the same year as Somerset Court.{{cite web\|url=http://www.autism.org.uk/RadlettLodge\|title=Radlett Lodge School – The National Autistic Society – NAS\|publisher=National Autistic Society (www.autism.org.uk)}}
Robert Ogden School	Thurnscoe near Rotherham	Yorkshire	ALIGN="center"\|1976	Weekly & Termly boarding and Day learning school for pupils/students aged between 5 and 19 years old, which opened 2 years after Radlett Lodge School and Somerset Court opened and became the first and only NAS school in the North of England before Church Lawton School.{{cite web\|url=http://www.autism.org.uk/robertogden\|title=Robert Ogden School – The National Autistic Society – NAS\|publisher=National Autistic Society (www.autism.org.uk)}}{{cite web\|url=http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/106965\|title=The Robert Ogden School\|date=6 October 2020 \|publisher=OFSTED}}{{cite web\|url=http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/SC032154\|title=SC032154\|date=12 May 2022 \|publisher=OFSTED}}
Sybil Elgar School	Southall (mainly), Ealing (since weekly boarding facilities first opened) and Acton (since sixth form classes were relocated)	Middlesex, West London	ALIGN="center"\|1965	Weekly boarding and Day learning school for pupils/students aged between 4 and 22 years old, which took 3 years to construct after the NAS was founded.{{cite web\|url=http://www.autism.org.uk/SybilElgar\|title=Sybil Elgar School – The National Autistic Society – NAS\|publisher=National Autistic Society (www.autism.org.uk)}}

The National Autistic Society also runs services for autistic adults.

=Past schools and facilities=

The National Autistic Society had also managed 3 former schools that no longer existed since the changes of the NAS logos.

Name of NAS School ! Location(s) ! County ! Year first opened ! Year last closed ! Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
Anderson School	Somewhere between Bath and Bristol followed by Chigwell	Greater Bristol followed by Essex	ALIGN="center"\|2012	ALIGN="center"\|2020	Independence school for pupils/students aged between 11 and 19 years old which opened on the NAS's 50th Anniversary, became the second NAS school to open in the West Country after Broomhayes School, had the longest relocation and had closed down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic having only been opened for 8 years.
Broomhayes School	Westward Ho! followed by near Bideford	Devon	ALIGN="center"\|1985	ALIGN="center"\|2015	Weekly & Termly boarding and Day learning school for pupils/students aged between 11 and 22 years old which was the first and only NAS school in the West Country before Anderson School and had closed down for putting Kingsley House up for sale when the school got close to its 30th anniversary.
Daldorch House School	Mauchline	Ayrshire	ALIGN="center"\|1998	ALIGN="center"\|2020	Weekly & Termly boarding and Day learning school for pupils/students aged between 5 and 22 years old which was the only NAS school in Scotland and had closed down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic having been opened for 22 years.

=Liberty Academy Trust schools and former NAS facilities=

Academies that have left the National Autistic Society after 10 years or under, and since between 2022 and 2023 are now under the Liberty Academy Trust.

Name of former NAS and now LAT School ! Location(s) ! County ! Year first opened ! Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
Church Lawton School	Church Lawton	Staffordshire/Cheshire boarder	ALIGN="center"\|2015	LAT School first opened by the NAS following the closure of Broomhayes School.
Thames Valley School	Reading	Berkshire	ALIGN="center"\|2013	LAT School first opened by the NAS following the year of its 50th anniversary.
Vanguard School	Lambeth	Southeast London	ALIGN="center"\|2020	LAT School first opened by the NAS following the introduction of a new NAS logo from 2018.

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Refs
class="wikitable" width="100%"
rowspan="1"\|2017	rowspan="1"\| Diversity in Media Awards	Marketing Campaign of the Year	Make it Stop	{{nom}}	{{cite web \|url=http://www.diversityinmediaawards.com/2017-shortlisted-creative.html \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209112659/http://www.diversityinmediaawards.com/2017-shortlisted-creative.html \|url-status=dead \|archive-date=9 February 2018 \|title=2017 Shortlisted Creative – Diversity In Media Awards \|access-date=17 April 2018 }}{{cite web \|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHHwZJX67-M \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/xHHwZJX67-M\| archive-date=2021-12-12 \|url-status=live\|title=Make It Stop \|publisher=National Autistic Society \|date=28 March 2017 \|access-date=17 April 2018 \|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

References

External links

[http://www.autism.org.uk Official website]

Category:Health charities in the United Kingdom

Category:Autism-related organisations in the United Kingdom

Category:1962 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Organizations established in 1962

Category:Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom