Time for Autism

Improving medical education

Autism has been identified as an area where undergraduate medical training is patchy, and on some courses there is little time devoted to it.    

Future doctors who come into contact with autistic people and their families need to be equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, empathy and understanding to provide good quality care, regardless of their clinical specialism. 

We are excited to have brought together the partnerships needed so that Time for Autism can develop and deliver innovative autism education. 

Our work is funded by Health Education England and underpinned by its Core Capabilities Framework for Supporting Autistic People. This was launched in November 2019 in order to support the future health and social care workforce as part of the National Autism Strategy.

Research 

It is intended that an underpinning research study will support the development and evaluation of Time for Autism, in two phases. 

Phase 1 has built the evidence to develop, deliver and establish an evaluation framework for Time for Autism. This has involved in-depth qualitative interviews with final year medical students and parents/carers of a child with autism about their perception of medical training needs.

Phase 2 will be the formal evaluation of the Time for Autism programme. This will include student outcomes, as well as qualitative evaluation and satisfaction of both students and parents/carers undertaking the programme. 

Time for Autism terminology

There are many terms that are used to describe autism and we want to be clear about the choices we are making in the Time for Autism programme.

After careful consideration of available research and discussion with our Lived Experience Advisory Group, the following decisions have been made:

1. As some families prefer ‘person-first’ language (e.g. ‘child with autism’) and some prefer ‘identity-first’ language (e.g. ‘autistic person’) the medical students will be advised to ask families which terms they prefer to use, and to stick to these on their visits.

2. In our written communications to families, person-first language (e.g. ‘child with autism’) will be used as this was felt to be the stronger preference by our Lived Experience Advisory Group and least likely to cause offence.

3. When communicating more widely about Time for Autism, some identity-first language (e.g. ‘autistic person’) is felt to be acceptable particularly when referring to adults. This reflects research published in Autism in 2015* which showed a shift towards a preference for more positive and assertive language, particularly among autistic communities where autism is seen as integral to the person. Identity-first language has also been adopted by the recent Autism Capabilities Framework released by the Department of Health and Social Care (October 2019).

4. ‘On the autism spectrum’ will be used instead of ‘ASC’, ‘ASD’ or ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’.

5. Unless otherwise stated, ‘child or young person with autism’ refers to children and young people across the autism spectrum at all levels of intellectual ability.

*Kenny et al (2015). Which terms should be used to describe autism? Perspectives from the UK autism community. Autism, 20(4), 442-462. 

Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Medical Schools Project 

Health Education England (HEE) have funded Brighton and Sussex Medical School to identify how the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training (OMMT) in autism and learning disabilities can be delivered within medical schools in England. The project is being led by the University of Plymouth and Brighton and Sussex Medical Schools, with help from Warwick, Leicester and Swansea Medical Schools. 

Our aims are

1. To review the literature on autism and learning disabilities teaching for medical students  
2. To ascertain the current level of autism and learning disabilities education taking place in medical schools in England. 
3. To develop resources to help medical schools deliver the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training (OMMT) to their students. These materials will be co-produced with people with learning disabilities, autistic people, their carers or people working for groups that support people with a learning disability or autistic people, along with medical school educators.
4. To evaluate the programme in terms of process and its impact on student knowledge, understanding, attitudes and behaviours towards people with learning disabilities and autism. 

You can look here to find out about the OMMT (The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disability and Autism). If you would like to know more about this project, please email Dr Stephanie Daley on s.daley@bsms.ac.uk.