Councils are telling parents they will no longer specify one-to-one support in an education, health and care plan (EHCP), says a charity. SOS SEN says councils are telling families they they will instead specify one-to-one support in “separate documents”. But...

Trials on a water-retention drug hailed as a promising autism treatment have been halted. Bumetanide was going through two stage three trials when researchers abandoned the trials. Results showed it performs no better than a placebo, or sugar pill, at...

The Local Government Ombudsman has pushed a council into overturning its refusal to pay for college transport. Staffordshire County Council had refused to pay to get an autistic teenager to her college 25 miles away. The council had not given...

The UK’s biggest autism charity has been criticised for saying the condition should not be “lessened”. The National Autistic Society (NAS) made the comment in response to research on a parent-coaching technique. The technique aims to reduce autism diagnoses. Tim...

Police are probing the deaths of two patients at a private mental health hospital. Norfolk Police are looking at the deaths of Joanna Bailey, 36, and Ben King, 32, at Cawston Park Hospital in Norwich. Bailey, who had a learning...

Vulnerable children at risk from coronavirus may be exempt from the UK government’s decision to send all pupils back to school. That’s the view of campaign group the Good Law Project. The group is threatening court action if education secretary...

Researchers are investigating how non-speaking autistic people understand speech. A Cambridge University team is using brain imaging to reveal how non-speaking autistic people process language. The lead researcher is cognitive scientist Dr Alex Woolgar. Inspiration from a child She became...

Parents who ask councils for help with a disabled child are automatically blamed for their problems. That’s the view of Professor Luke Clements and Dr Ana Laura Aiello. The Leeds University law academics have penned a report on families’ experiences....

The UK’s largest autism study is being launched today (24 August) to look at the wellbeing of those with the condition. Called Spectrum 10K, the study will include survey findings and genetic and medical research. The University of Cambridge is...

A hospital trust is to prioritise people with learning disabilities for treatment. Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust will make the learning disabled a treatment priority as part of plans to get on top of a backlog of work after coronavirus....