National Autistic Society

The National Autistic Society is an autism organization in the UK.

While the organization is better than most autism-related "charities", it has been hesitant to take action against abuse. This can be serious, since the well-being of autistic people is at stake.

An informal poll with 238 respondents showed that many autistics had mixed feelings about the organization, with more autistics disliking it than liking it.[1]

History

1960s

The National Autistic Society was founded in London as the Autistic Children's Aid Society of North London in 1962 by a group of parents.

Its original logo, designed by Gerald Gasson, showed a crying child with a puzzle piece symbol. It was meant to represent the idea that autism was a "baffling" condition which caused suffering.[2]

2010s

The NAS switched to identity-first language, referring to people on the spectrum as "autistic people" instead of "people with autism." This reflects the language that most autistic people prefer.[3]

It unveiled a new rainbow logo, reminiscent of the neurodiversity logo.

The NAS has advocated for autistic adults as well as children, producing resources on employment and other lifespan issues.

It has also produced videos to help non-autistic people better understand autistics. Autistic viewers have generally responded well, considering the videos realistic and appropriate portrayals of what it's like to be autistic.[4][5]

  • "Can you make it to the end?," which depicts sensory overload through the eyes of an autistic child
  • "Make it stop," which depicts how sudden social interaction can be overwhelming
  • "Diverted," which depicts the stress of coping with crowded transportation and judgmental strangers, showing why autistics may be reluctant to leave home
  • "Could you stand the rejection?," depicting stigma during the hiring process through the eyes of an autistic adult

All of these films have featured a white/white-passing person.

Abuse in its schools and residential homes

Multiple instances of abuse have occurred at National Autistic Society buildings.

Abuse at Mendip house
Content Warning

This section describes serious verbal and physical abuse. Skip the bullet list and don't check the citations if this bothers you.

“”What happened at Mendip House was a combination of cruel and unprofessional staff practice and a failure to spot this and put it right quickly.
—Official apology[6]

The National Autistic Society's Mendip residential care facility was abusing its six adult residents. Abuses included:[7][8]

  • Teasing, yelling, and swearing at residents
  • Slapping people and throwing objects at them
  • Throwing people into pools
  • Making them crawl around on all fours
  • Riding a resident like a horse with a ribbon around the resident's neck
  • Expecting them to eat onions, chili peppers, and other horrifying things[note 1]
  • Financial abuse (using residents' money to fund staff outings)
  • Failing to notice when residents ran away (though one could argue that might be a blessing)

One mother suspected something might be wrong in 2015, making a complaint about the "laddish culture." (The NAS said it regretted not taking the complaint more seriously.) The mother also said that in 2014, staff left her daughter, a highly sensitive woman who sometimes becomes catatonic and unable to move, alone in a car for 13 hours. The daughter was also hurt at least 3 times by another resident, with staff failing to protect her.[9] Another resident's sister said that her brother would tell her for years "I don't want to go back to [Mendip house]" and become very sad when he had to go.[10]

The full extent of the abuse came to light after an anonymous tip in 2016.[11]

According to the NAS' apology page, the NAS began investigating in May 2016 after they received a report; they reported the abuse to the CQC, Somerset County Council, and the police. By July, the NAS decided to close the Mendip house, and all residents were moved out by November.[6]

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) began a criminal investigation and imposed a £4000 fine. While the fine was the maximum the CQC could legally impose,[12] angry families and autistic people felt that the fine was "trivial" and that the CQC should have prosecuted the NAS.[13]

"The NAS is worth millions, £4,000 is what it costs approximately to keep someone of highly complex needs in care for two weeks and that's all they were fined, that's all they were worth: £4,000. I'm devastated," said autistic activist Emma Dalmayne, who protested outside the NAS with other autistic advocates.[10]

Angry parents said that the NAS downplayed the abuse their children experienced, giving them the false impression that it was not a big deal.[9]

The NAS also committed to working harder to prevent abuse in all its care homes.[6]

Abuse at Anderson School
“”One year later my child couldn’t even walk down the street without me anymore. He refuses to go out; he can’t even make a cup of tea.... It has destroyed his life.
—Parent[14]

Anderson School, a school for autistic kids ages 11-19[15] opened in 2017 by the NAS, failed an emergency inspection in November 2019. Issues included:[16][14]

  • Calling police frequently to deal with "disturbances"
  • Allowing autistic children to escape near busy streets, parking lots, and onto the roof
  • Failure to teach students online safety (several students having serious incidents)
  • Locking children in rooms alone for hours
  • Giving a horror story about cannibalism and necrophilia to 12-year-old students
  • Two students attempting suicide, one after severe bullying that wasn't stopped

Over a dozen parents pulled their children from the school. Parents who were interviewed cited issues like the children failing to make academic progress, becoming afraid to attend school, and experiencing regression and personality changes.[14][17] (These are classic signs of abuse and trauma.)

Controversies

The fact that the abuse that occurred in the Mendip care home was able to occur for so long has raised concerns.

Silence on pseudoscience
“”"I was under the false impression that the National Autistic Society were behind me. I was told by Carol Povey that they would be doing an article in their magazine "Your Autism" or "Autism," which was their way of coming out and backing me because they won't make a statement publicly against GcMAF or MMS... I got an email today saying they will not put it in the magazine because they do not want to give it a platform... They're doing nothing.
—Emma Dalmayne[18]

Around 2015, autistic mother and activist Emma Dalmayne began a campaign to make autism "cures"—which range from useless to toxic and life-threatening—illegal in the UK. The petition to ban these dangerous autism "cures" amassed over 60,000 signatures,[19] and the Advertising Standards Agency began cracking down on homeopaths making false claims about "CEASE therapy" curing autism.[20] Dalmayne reached out to the NAS multiple times to ask for support but was denied.

Endorsing questionable treatments

The NAS has also failed to condemn the abuses in applied behavior analysis, a questionable therapy technique that trains children with punishments and rewards. Autistics, loved ones, and some experts have warned that the technique is often abusive, stripping children of their coping mechanisms and training them to comply to any request. This could lead to mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder. The NAS lists ABA as a therapy option without warning about the abuse.

It also has suggested that biomedical approaches (which almost universally lack scientific backing) could be effective with a doctors' supervision.[21]

Notes
  1. We've chosen not to share the worst of it here in case you plan on eating anytime soon.
gollark: Yep, it works.
gollark: Is what I would say if I didn't have a good test suite, but I have a basic one.
gollark: I don't have a good test suite for C.
gollark: `k=list(map(int,k))` ← how strange and unnecessary.
gollark: And yes, it passes my 1 (one) test case.

References
  1. Poll of autistic opinions on the National Autistic Society
  2. Notes on a puzzle piece
  3. The language we use to describe autism - National Autistic Society
  4. Why Everyone Should Watch 'Diverted': A Short Film from the National Autistic Society - Autistic and Unapologetic
  5. Autistic Female Discusses "Diverted" | NAS TMI 2018| #WAAW18 - YouTube
  6. Mendip House apology (29 March 2019) - National Autistic Society
  7. Autism charity accused of hiding horrific abuse at care home - Telegraph
  8. Mendip House care home has been fined a derisory £4,000 after staff rode a resident with autism 'like a horse' and forced another to -CENSORED- You probably don't want to know.
  9. Parents of Mendip House resident say they were misled over abuse
  10. Charity 'must listen to autistic people' in wake of abuse scandal (includes horrifying details)
  11. Autism charity escapes prosecution over care home bullying - The Guardian
  12. Autistic campaigners to protest outside charity over regime of care home abuse - Disability News Service
  13. Mendip House families "angry and disturbed" - National Autistic Society issued trivial fine - Learning Disability Today
  14. Havering Council monitoring taxpayer-funded special school after police calls, escapes and ‘necrophilia book’ scandal - Romford Recorder
  15. Anderson School - National Autistic Society
  16. Emergency Ofsted inspection held at Chigwell school for autistic kids - Guardian
  17. Parents slam The Anderson School in Chigwell for ignoring safeguarding complaints - Guardian
  18. National Autistic Society/ Emma Dalmayne - MMS Exposed, YouTube, 2015
  19. Make Autistic 'Cures' Illegal In The UK. - Change.org
  20. Advertising watchdog rules fake autism 'cure' adverts must stop - BBC News
  21. Good autistic advocacy organizations vs. bad autism "charities" - In the Loop About Neurodiversity
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