The World According to Autism
By Liz Lockhart
A guide to help people to understand and explain autism spectrum disorder is in the process of development. 
The guide is called The World According to Autism and it is hoped that it will assist professionals to explain the condition and individuals to understand and explore what a diagnosis of autism means.
The World According to Autism is being produced with the help of Health Enterprise East (HEE), the NHS partner organisation for innovation. Its aim is to promote the understanding of the key features of an autistic spectrum disorder and encourage the individual with autism, the family and carers to recognise the positive attributes of the condition. The guide contains a structured and visual way which is consistent with the preferred learning style of those with autism and helps to encourage and guide discussion.
The guide authors told Mental Healthy ‘'While working with families who had been referred to a Clinical Psychology Department for adults with Learning Disabilities, we identified what appeared to be a gap in resources available for facilitating a discussion about a diagnosis of Autism. We were inspired to create this pack to aid our work and that of other clinicians and professionals to allow for conversations about diagnosis to be facilitated, using pictures to compliment written explanations which capture some of the core features of Autism. We also wanted the resource to focus on individual's strengths to ensure these are also recognised. We hope it provides professionals with a helpful framework within which post diagnostic conversations can be facilitated.'
This new guide has been designed to be used with individuals of all ages by healthcare and education professionals, and practitioners. It has been designed to be used in a range of settings such as Child and Adolescent Services, Paediatrics, Learning Disability Services, Adult Mental Health, Family Services and Education and is also useful in a training capacity.
The guide was developed by Dr. Leonie McDonald and Michelle Wilson and was originally designed for their own use along with use by their colleagues. Both of the authors were, at the time, on placement at Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. They were encouraged by their placement mentor, Dr. Natius Oelofsen, to take their idea further and to contact HEE.
HEE were able to help by explaining copyright ownership and protection and by negotiating a licence deal. ‘This new resource will be welcomed by professionals working in the field of Autism. By offering a more visual and tactile approach than existing guides, it will prove a valuable addition to information already available. The World According to autism is also a perfect example of a resource that is conceived and developed by people working on the frontline who really understand the unmet need and what is required to fill it,’ said HEE Innovation Manager Tracy Coultas.
The World According to Autism is listed in the Speechmark 2012 catalogue and can be pre-ordered. It will be available in the Summer of 2012 and is priced at £49.99.
