Family Solicitors

Great strides have been made in understanding autism and helping families navigate the legal system but much more work is needed to help families properly access justice. World Autism Acceptance Week offers the perfect opportunity to highlight the issues relating to autism within the area of law that I practice and issues and the failings within the legal system. Within the course of my work as a solicitor and director within the family department at Duncan Lewis, I represent numerous autistic children and adults, but I am also a parent of an 8-year-old autistic child, gving me added insight into the obstacles parents like myself have to overcome. Specialising in public children law proceedings, and my membership of the Law Society’s Children Law Accreditation Scheme, means I am qualified to represent children in family court proceedings, for example, where a local authority seeks a court order to safeguard the child. In the past few years, there has been a significant rise of diagnoses in children and adults with Autism spectrum condition, which the National Autistic Society describes on its website as, “A lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. More than one in 100 people are on the Autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.” There are of course thousands more children and adults who remain undiagnosed. Speaking at the London Virtual Autistic Conference on March 29, 2023, Andrew Carpenter, Autism Lead at NHS England London, said that recent research suggests the figures are more suggestive of 1 in 35 people in the UK being autistic. The heavily campaigned for Autism Act 2009 and increased rates of diagnoses have raised autism awareness amongst the general population and resulted in organisations adjusting access to their services, so as to make them inclusive for autistic people. For example, the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme. Autism is not an illness; it does not require treatment in order to make it better. In an autistic person, the brain is wired differently to neuro typical people, which creates some challenges, some amazing advantages and some frustrating disadvantages for autistic people in a world that is created and set up for neuro typical people. There are interventions and therapies that can help an autistic person live, function and thrive in a neuro typical world. The reality is that we all exhibit some form of behaviour apparent in autistic people, the difference is that for us, the behaviour or thought processes do not tend to affect our day-to-day lives. A perfect example of this is ‘stimming.’ A stim is a behaviour that serves to self sooth, so for example, we might jump up and down if we are excited and happy or we might tap our fingers if we are inpatient or nervous. For an autistic person, their stims may be more frequent or more pronounced because the way their brain is wired means they are excited more easily or find it more challenging to deal with nerves. These feelings can then become overwhelming and can lead to meltdowns. Autism is a huge spectrum and there is a lot to learn, something I have done a lot of, since son was diagnosed. I have worked hard to understand him and autism in general. It is difficult stuff to grasp and understand sometimes, but it is true what they say, that if you know one person with autism, then you know one person with autism, as it has a large spectrum with many different features and nuances. At the age of three and a half, my son could easily navigate the London Transport network without prompting from my husband and me, yet he has faced numerous challenges in his development. In my experience, there is much work to do to improve knowledge amongst professionals and to improve access to the services autistic people and those with other hidden disabilities require and are entitled to. I am concerned by the lack of understanding amongst legal, social care, health and education professionals of autism, and the need to adjust how we work, to accommodate autistic people and their needs. It is surprising to think that a significant proportion of professionals within the legal sector and social services, who deal with care proceedings cases, do not have specific training in autism or a true understanding of what this means about the way in which we should conduct ourselves when dealing with children and families where autism is present. Over the past few years, I have spoken to countless professionals who agree that awareness and training needs to be increased in our professions, and that what we are doing now just is not good enough. In a recent Judgment, HHJ Middleton Roy highlighted the difficulties autistic parents involved in court proceedings may experience and adjustments that can be made in order to facilitate their full participation (D and E (Parent with Autism) [2020] EWFC B18 (11 May 2020)). Whilst this is an extremely helpful starting point, such guidance must be underpinned by training across the professional sectors involved in such cases. Many cases come to court where local authorities are issuing proceedings in respect of children with hidden disabilities such as autism and ADHD. Quite often in these cases, the children are beyond parental control because they are not receiving the support and services they need from the wider system, yet the cases brought to court place the blame on the parents. This is not to say there are never any concerns with the parents’ ability to care for the child but the problematic aspect that I and so many other professionals struggle with is the parental blame element in relation to aspects of the child’s hidden disability which manifest in behaviour that the parent (and professionals) struggle to manage. The increase in these types of cases has precipitated ground-breaking research by the University of Birmingham with West Midlands ADASS (funded by NHS England) about parental blame in relation to autism. A questionnaire includes identifying parents who have ended up with social services involvement and facing care proceedings because of a lack of understanding by professionals. That the research is being funded by an already cash-strapped NHS indicates how endemic the problem is. I am hopeful that the results will assist to drive change moving forward. So many children subject to care proceedings slip through the net of different services and remain without much needed diagnoses, or even if they do have a diagnosis, without much needed support and services. Yes, our health, education and social care systems are under pressure but the problem starts with the lack of knowledge and understanding of what autism is, how to spot it and what this means in relation to working with autistic children and adults. The Autism Act 2009 requires the Secretary of State to publish a document setting out strategy for meeting the needs of adults in England with autistic spectrum conditions by improving the provision of relevant services to such adults by local authorities, NHS bodies and NHS foundations. The Government’s national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026, is the first time the autism strategy has been extended to children and young people. Unfortunately, the strategy falls far short of where we need to be. It sets highly ambitious targets that are way off being fulfilled, considering the plan is now two years in, and the funding for what it sets out to achieve just isn’t there. It presents an idealised view of what is possible in health, education, social care, employment, society and the justice system. Many SEN parents and professionals such as myself, read this with a sinking feeling in our hearts, knowing much of this 43-page document is, in many respects, ‘lip service’ politics, while some of it is simply not true. For example, at page 10 of the document it states in relation to the Covid-19 Pandemic that ‘children and young people who are vulnerable, including anyone with an Education, Health and Care (EHCP) plan, have been able to attend school as normal.’ I read this in utter disbelief as it is completely untrue. My son has an EHCP and attends a special needs school and he was not able to attend school as normal and was amongst the majority of children in this position. Furthermore, whilst there is emphasis on autism training for child social workers who work with autistic children (which of course is positive), it is silent on training for child social workers across the board. It sets out plans for reform of the adult and youth criminal justice system but not the family court system. It applauds itself for committing to the opening of 37 new special needs schools. However, it fails to mention the critical lack of appropriate SEN provision in the numerous boroughs who recently failed funding bids for new SEN schools, such as my own borough, Harrow. CAMHS is at absolute breaking point, autistic children with mental health needs are just not getting the support they require and yet the Government strategy whitewashes over all of this. The HMCTS vulnerability action plan, October 2022 update, confirms that all courts and tribunals will be, by Summer 2023, signed up to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme ¬– where people wear a sunflower to indicate subtly to staff, colleagues and health professionals that they need additional support, help or a little more time. This is progress, but what of training amongst all staff within the court system, including those in call centres and admin staff at the coalface of dealing with many autistic court users each day. Will the Government fund this? I am lucky to have personal and professional experience of autism and this is now driving me to try and effect change within my own practice and the family justice system and there is a lot of work to do, but please watch this space. Please try to educate yourself and others about autism and hidden disabilities; it is an integral part of the society we live in. If you had a hidden disability, you would want someone to make the effort to understand you. Alia Lewis Alia Lewis is a Children Panel Solicitor and Director at Duncan Lewis Solicitors who is a Recommended Individual in The Legal 500 guide, where she is described as "incredibly thorough and always on top of the case." She has extensive experience in representing children through their guardian and via separate representation. She also represents parents, extended family members and interveners, and hasconducted cases on behalf of the official solicitor in a wide range of cases involving autism, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, FII, non-accidental injury, drug and alcohol addiction, domestic abuse, learning difficulties, mental illness, psychological disorders and physical disability. Contact Alia for advice on any family or childcare matter via email at alial@duncanlewis.com or via telephone on 020 3114 1193. Helpful Links: Website for the National Autistic Society where you can find more information and expand your knowledge and understanding: the National Autistic Society Autism Act 2009: Autism Act 2009. University of Birmingham’s Research Questionnaire on Parental Blame can be found here - Please feel free to share this with whomever you feel may be interested in completing it: Questionnaire. Judgment in (D and E (Parent with Autism) [2020] EWFC B18 (11 May 2020): https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/OJ/2020/B18.html. The government’s national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026: National Strategy 2021-2026. HMCTS vulnerability action plan October 2022 update: National Strategy 2021-2026. October Action Plan Update 2022.