Autism Spectrum Disorders

The Richmond Fellowship Scotland supports over 200 individuals across Scotland with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The Richmond Fellowship Scotland believes that people with autism should be treated with dignity and respect, and receive the support that they need to live full lives within their community. We are committed to working towards a society where people with autism are accepted and valued by their communities; we believe our autism services can contribute to making this a reality.

To provide the best possible services, for people with autism, The Richmond Fellowship Scotland appreciates the complexities of people’s lives, the challenges that people with autism face and the contributions and worth they can bring. We are committed to recognising the uniqueness of each person with autism and engaging them in decision-making about their own service.

We offer many different models of support for people who have Autism Spectrum Disorders. Some are designed in a core and cluster model, others are care homes. These offer a blend of individual and shared living spaces. We also provide flexible supported living services to people who live in their own homes and also some drop-in centres.

Each service supports individuals to progress in their development, and where possible move on to more independent living. We build strong links with families and carers and work in partnership with health, care and support providers to ensure a consistent approach. With these links in place, we can effectively support individuals with autism to achieve their goals.

Effective communication is at the heart of what we do. We make sure each person can communicate with their staff in a way that they will understand, using communication methods and aids that work for them. Our staff are trained so that they are skilled communicators, with knowledge of the specific needs of those on the autism spectrum.

We also have certain specialist support measures that we can draw on if someone with autism needs extra support. Some examples of this are the range of services offered by our Positive Behaviour Support Team as well as specialised training and mentoring for staff teams, such as Person-specific Autism Spectrum Disorder training.

We also offer training, support and advice to family carers of adults (16 years and above) with autism who have emotional and behavioural challenges through our Positive Pathways training.

Our aim is that our services for people with autism should be based on the principles of dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising potential and equality and diversity, as in the Scottish Strategy for Autism (2011).

On 27th March 2017 (World Autism Awareness Week), we launched our Autism Strategy for 2017-20 and you can find out more here: The Richmond Fellowship Scotland Autism Strategy

The Richmond Fellowship Scotland is also committed to inter-agency working and we are part of the Scottish Government Autism Reference Group and it’s Cross Agency Working sub-group. Members of our Positive Behaviour Support Team are also part of Glasgow City Council’s Autism Working Group and the Autism Network Scotland Steering Group.