National Autism Implementation Team

Cover image for Thriving Autistic’s “Discovery Programme E-book” titled “Let’s Discover More About Burnout.” The design features a navy and gold color scheme with an infinity symbol logo above the words “Thriving Autistic,” the large bold word “BURNOUT” centered on the page, and the website www.thrivingautistic.org at the bottom.

Check out our free signposting resources covering lots of topics including; masking, intersectionality, sensory systems, relationships and a new resource about Autistic Burnout

thrivingautistic.org/discovery-pr...

Autism, Neurodivergence, Support Needs and Inclusion — What’s New in February — Neurodiverse Connection In this research roundup, Ann Memmott brings together recent February papers exploring Neurodivergence and Learning Disabilities. The studies cover drug trials, gender parity, social communication p...

Hurrah! It is time for another Monthly Round-Up of Research from @annmemmott.bsky.social and @ndconnection.bsky.social

Autism, Neurodivergence, Support Needs and Inclusion — What’s New in February from Neurodiverse Connection
ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-...

From April 2022- May 2025, 30% of all enquiries to Enquire's helpline were related to school placement.

Key issues emerged as:
- understanding processes
- communication
- the appeals system
- transport
- transitions

Read more: childreninscotland.org.uk/news-article...

Splashes of green and brown, similar to fireworks, are displaye on a slightly off-white background. Above, text reads helpline awareness day. Celebrating our fabulous helpline team.

Underneath text which reads meet our team there are black and white headshots of the helpline team who are identified as Vitalina, Hannah, Mark, Lisa, Maisie and Sarah.

🎉This #HelplineAwarenessDay we are celebrating our fabulous helpline team! 🎉

Our small and skilled team handle your emails and calls, offering a caring and compassionate ear and sharing advice around additional support for learning.

Thank you - you are brilliant!

@helplinesuk.bsky.social

Boshier Pregnancy Resources – Restraint Reduction Network The RRN is pleased to have developed a new suite of resources aimed at delivering rights respecting support for pregnant autistic people. These include an infor

These new resources look great- with info and practical guidance for pregnant autistic people and professionals restraintreductionnetwork.org/resource/bos...

Poster with white and yellow backgrounds with CALL Scotland logo at the top. Right hand side has 3 images; from top to bottom photograph of Ceanna MacGregor AAC Specialist Teacher, Kirsteen Steven AT and ASN Teacher and Paula Twigg, CALL Scotland Project Officer Left hand side title of webinar is Communication Passports on Monday 23rd March 2026 from 7pm to 7.30pm and for more info there is a QR code at the bottom with a short link: bit.ly/CallParentWebinars

There is still time to register for our parent/carer webinar next Monday evening (23rd Feb) at 7pm. We'll be sharing resources on Communication Passports. Click the link or scan the QR code to find out more and register to join live or to be sent the recording link.
https://bit.ly/CALLParentWebinars

Autistic Menopause Having menopausal symptoms as an autistic person can feel isolating and confusing. You might be wondering why you are feeling so lost or why your experience doesn't seem anything like other people's. ...

Autistic Menopause
A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and those Supporting Them
by Julie Gamble-Turner & Rachel Moseley
uk.jkp.com/products/aut...

Extra £3.4 million announced for neurodevelopmental support in Scotland AN additional £3.4 million to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children, young people and their families has been announced by the…

www.thenational.scot/news/2581401...

OCD: Shame and affirmation The need for OCD-affirming spaces is highlighted, emphasizing the validity of identities and experiences. The author shares their challenges with OCD treatment options, including problematic experi…

Autistic, ADHD, and other ND-affirming spaces exist, but should OCD be affirmed? And what would an OCD-affirming space look like?

#OCD #MentalHealth #FromTheArchives

autisticltd.co.uk/2024/05/06/o...

Planning a large-scale change in healthcare? Here’s a framework for getting started. From @healthfoundation.bsky.social

api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/c...

Purple background with text which reads: Digilearnscot event: Children's ASN Read Along & Sing Along with Joanna Courtney, CALL Scotland. Thurs, 4th Dec, 10am. There are two images, one of a book cover of 'My Pet Star' and the other is a symbol communication board to support shared reading of 'My Pet Star.'

Join Joanna at 10am on Thursday 4th December for an accessible live read along of 'My Pet Star.' Register here https://bit.ly/4oi3f3O

Download free resources for joining in on the day here: https://bit.ly/47WNWrm

Thank you, @ashajournals.bsky.social! We are thrilled to get this work out into the world.

A stylised illustration with a pale pink background. It is divided into four coloured panels: a yellow panel with a green tick in the top left, a dark green panel with a yellow upward arrow in the top right, a teal panel with a red cross in the bottom left, and a dusty pink panel with a light blue equals sign in the bottom right. White dotted lines loop around the panels and meet at a central dusty-pink plus symbol. Below, two simple chairs and a small turquoise table sit beneath a location pin whose pink pin and pale-pink shadow together form a heart shape. The word “relationships” appears at the bottom.

‘People’ and ‘Scaffolding’ are two crucial foundations of The Promise.

Navigate - our new care experience + education hub - can reinforce the scaffolding around a child or young person by helping to weld & strengthen the joins between the people & services who support them.

Visit: enquire.org.uk

Great work.
And NAPLIC now has a network for professionals working with adults with DLD, so one of your recommendations has been met.

Affirming Practice - Barriers to Education Practice underpinned by the understanding that everyone is different and acceptance of difference ensures equity for all.

Nice resources to help with understanding of the complex contexts which can be barriers or facilitators to neurodivergent young people feeling able to attend and participate meaningfully in school settings

barrierstoeducation.co.uk/affirming-pr...

This is a small image of the poster described about developmental language disorder in adults and current practice in adult speech and langauge therapy services in Scotland that can be found on the NAIT website

We are enjoying the #RCSLT Conference 2025 today. Here's our poster about current practice in identifying adults with Developmental Language Disorder in Scotland and steps to address gaps in provision
nait.scot/document/nai...
#DLD @naplic.bsky.social @radld.bsky.social @rcpsych.bsky.social

The Shape of Feeling: Alexithymia and Emotional Dysregulation On growing up wordless, living attuned, and learning that what they called dysregulation was never disorder—only the body’s unbroken music, still playing beneath the noise of translation.

This is wonderful by Jaime Hoerricks.
The Shape of Feeling: Alexithymia and Emotional Dysregulation

autside.substack.com/p/the-shape-...

Going against the gut: Q&A with Kevin Mitchell A new review of 15 years of studies on the connection between the microbiome and autism reveals widespread statistical and conceptual errors.

We've always been skeptical about autism-gut microbiome claims. A new survey of 30 studies explored the "connection," and, after "accounting for statistical, technical and conceptual flaws, the team reached a clear conclusion: 'There’s nothing there.'"

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/goi...

Part-time timetables can be a useful tool in supporting a child or young person returning to school after a period of absence, or whilst support is being arranged.

They should not however be used long-term or instead of receiving the right support to help children & young people attend full-time.

Image of the new front cover for the SPELL framework self-study guide, 'Understanding and Responding to Autism: The SPELL framework'. All authors listed. The background is a multi-coloured flower.

📢The 3rd Edition of the SPELL framework is now available for pre-order from Pavilion Publishing!

The SPELL framework is an ethical and socially valid mechanism for understanding and responding to autism. It is hopeful, honest, respectful, ethical - and individual.

pavpub.com?s=SPELL&post...
1/

Autism & The Map of Neuronormative Domination: Stuck States vs Flow States | Autistic Realms In collaboration with Ryan Boren, Chelsea Adams and Norah Hobbs from Stimpunks I have created: Autism & The Map of Neuronormative Domination. We hope th ...

In collaboration with @stimpunks.org we created a Map of Neuronormative Domination to frame the Map of Monotropic Experiences.
Highlighting epistemic injustice, behaviourism, deficit based narratives & other issues that impact neurodivergent people.
Find out more
autisticrealms.com/autism-the-m...

A photo shows a young school-aged boy sitting alone in a chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands looking down the floor. A purple banner runs along the bottom and signposts to the section of the Enquire website which focuses on Bullying.

A text based image highlights the information available on the Enquire website around bullying, including: what policies and practices schools should have in place to address bullying, what you can do if your child is being bullied, what you can do if bullying is affecting your child's learning and how your school can support your child. It also explains some steps you can take if you are not happy with how the school are dealing with any bullying that may be happening. The background is the same photo of the young boy in a seat, with a purple colour wash over the top.

It can be difficult seeing your child upset as a result of bullying and not knowing what to do.

Our pages explain more about what you can do if your child is experiencing #bullying at school.Visit: enquire.org.uk/parents/work...

#AntiBullyingWeek @respectme-scotland.bsky.social @connect.scot

🥳 Excited to receive our advance copy of ‘Supporting Children’s Speech Language and Communication Needs’ 📖 packed with fantastic information for #SLTs… and of course you can read our chapter (13) by Bremner & Rutherford about ‘Neurodivergent Children’ 🤩 see image for #discount code

Neurodivergent Speech and Language Therapists - YouTube This collection of videos contains videos for neurodivergent employees and their colleagues.

Re/imagining professional identity in speech and language therapy as inspired by neurodivergent SLTs @ndsltuk.bsky.social @naitscotland.bsky.social

youtube.com/playlist?lis...

A flyer highlights the survey for parents and carers of children and young people that use AAC and the reasons for the work. It explains the research is being undertaking by the National Autism Implementation Team at Queen Margaret Univeristy and is to; help better understand experiences, share ideas that may make life better for AAC users and their families, improve communication support in schools and services and build understanding about neuro-affirming practices. The information is accompanied by a cartoon graphic of a young person using a touch pad, held by an adult.

*Sharing for info*

@naitscotland.bsky.social are seeking the experiences of parents and carers of children and young people who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to inform practice.

Find out more: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/qmu/questi...

#AAC #AACAwareneness #education

Untangling additional support for learning - Enquire More about our new pages, designed and developed for those working with professionals and families entitled to support for learning.

Find out more about the background to the work, how we hope the resources will be used - and what comes next: enquire.org.uk/blog/untangl...

@cosla.gov.uk @eisunion.bsky.social @educationscotland.bsky.social @childreninscotland.bsky.social @naitscotland.bsky.social @socworkscot.bsky.social

Frontiers | Breaking Barriers, Building Futures: Inclusive Workplaces for Autistic People The employment of autistic person is a highly relevant social issue that deserves attention from society. Although in Europe it is estimated that around 5 mi...

"Promoting the work inclusion of autistic people requires a multilevel approach, which combines the enhancement of individual strengths, the removal of systemic and interpersonal barriers, and the adoption of enabling technologies."

www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy... #autism #neurodiversity

Please read and share this Top 10 list of DLD Questions, co-produced with an amazing group of contributors. These priorities can be used to shape research and funding applications to ensure that they reflect the needs and concerns of people living with DLD.

Frontiers | Sensory–movement underpinnings of lifelong neurodivergence: getting a grip on autism While the autism diagnosis emphasizes “deficits” in social communication, the article advances that sensory–movement differences underpin autism through a re...

Rethinking autistic "regression": Research shows autistic people have noticeable sensory & movement differences from day one, e.g. autistic babies smile at least as much as non-autistic ones—just less in response to parent social cues. @drstevenkapp.bsky.social:

www.frontiersin.org/journals/int...