Awareness within local authorities in England of autism spectrum diagnoses of looked‐after children

Abstract

Educational outcomes for looked‐after children on the autism spectrum are significantly poorer than for autistic children not being looked‐after by their local authority (those ‘in care’), and poorer than for most other groups of children with special educational needs who are looked‐after in England. Such poor outcomes have led to calls for specific attention to be paid to the needs of autistic looked‐after children within the care of local authorities. There is also evidence that the numbers of autistic children being looked‐after by local authorities could be under‐represented in official figures. This study sought to find the current numbers of autistic looked‐after children formally recorded across local authorities in England, and whether their needs are given special attention via strategic planning and oversight, using freedom of information (FoI) requests sent to all local authorities in England. From the 147 (97%) local authorities who responded, approximately 3% of looked‐after children in England are recorded as having an autism spectrum diagnosis, although this is still very likely to be an underestimation. The majority of local authorities do not routinely monitor or report on the diagnostic status of autistic looked‐after children at a strategic level. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The challenges that social care services face in relation to looked after children with neurodevelopmental disorders: A unique insight from a social worker perspective

“…However, some expressed concerns over misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis, prohibiting any further exploration into underlying trauma-related conditions; this is reflective of other research (Kentrou et al., 2019; Rodriguez et al, 2018). Conversely, research has found that LAC who present with trauma-related conditions may prohibit clinicians from exploring underlying behaviours that suggest an NDD (DeJong, 2010; Parsons, et al., 2019; Pinto, 2019). Placing the child’s needs at the centre of services was at the core of each participant’s response.…”

“…This trend is often attributed to varying factors such as improved diagnostic assessment tools and increased awareness and understanding of the conditions (Elsabbagh, et al., 2012; Song, et al., 2021a). Similarly, emerging research proposes that the prevalence of NDDs has increased in the LAC population but with higher prevalence rates compared with their peers (Parsons, at al., 2019; Willis, Dhakras and Cortese, 2017). Disconcertingly, higher rates of maltreatment have also been suggested to occur in children with an NDD (McDonnell, et al., 2019; Stern, et al., 2018).…”

Early help and children’s services: exploring provision and practice across English local authoritiesIntroduction

“…It tends to generate much higher response rates than traditional consensual survey methods owing to the fact that authorities are legally obliged to respond to requests and, outside of certain exemptions, provide any requested information (Fowler et al , 2013; Savage and Hyde, 2014). As with the principles of FoI legislation in general, research using FoI requests can also play an important democratic function, “both in terms of holding public authorities to account through making their workings more explicit and also … enabling wider participation of the public in research” (Parsons et al , 2019, p. 204).…”

It takes a city

“…We know from a plethora of studies that adverse early experiences can hugely impact a child’s developmental trajectory as they are associated with a multitude of negative developmental outcomes including mental health problems (Norman et al., 2012), lower academic achievement (McGuire and Jackson, 2018) and attachment problems (Baer and Martinez, 2006). Additionally, the complex question of causality aside, neurodevelopmental diagnoses such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or autism are overrepresented amongst children in care (Ogundele, 2020; Parsons et al., 2019). This ‘double jeopardy’ of trauma and neurodevelopmental conditions might pose additional risks to development (Gajwani and Minnis, 2023).…”