Across the 2024–25 year, Aucademy CIC delivered direct community benefit by creating meaningful paid work and professional development for 10[DF1] Autistic adults. This work responds directly to the persistent employment gap that Autistic people face: despite holding valuable skills and qualifications, fewer than 30% of Autistic adults are in paid work. Barnet Education and Learning Services activities: Aucademy CIC were commissioned by Barnet Education and Learning Services to deliver a number of Autistic-led activities to Autistic pupils, school staff, and parents/carers living and working in Barnet. Autistic Employment Support - 7 Autistic adults were paid and supported to create and deliver training courses for Autistic young people using their own experiences. This peer-led approach proved particularly effective as young people relate readily to mentors with shared lived experience. - A situationally speaking Autistic man in his twenties was supported to take on a lead role creating and delivering brand new Autistic Discovery Journey programme to Autistic pupils age 12-19 in Barnet online. This showed a young Autistic adult that he is capable of leading work with other Autistic young people and adults without needing to speak, equipping him with essential skills and experience that can be transferred to other work. - Autistic adults were paid to design and deliver three talks at the Barnet Young People’s Conference – an introduction to Autistic experience for pupils, an Autistic perspective on reasonable adjustments for teaching staff, and a “Know Your Rumble Signs” session for young people – alongside a hands-on, make-your-own stim-tool workshop. - A new one-to-one Autistic mentoring offer was developed, recruiting and onboarding Autistic mentors and producing their aims, objectives, and supporting materials. This created fresh paid roles for Autistic adults acting as authentic role models for younger Autistic people. - An Autistic team member led the coordination, budgeting, and administration of the Barnet-commissioned work, building transferable project-management skills. Direct Support for Autistic Young People - Structured, Autistic-led support and social opportunities for neurodivergent young people aged 12–19 – a group for whom pre- and post-diagnostic provision remains scarce. - Regular support groups that ease social isolation during important points of transition. - Hands-on guidance from facilitators who share the young people’s lived experience. - The Autistic Discovery Journey ran as a structured online programme across nine sessions and two 2025 cohorts, with sensory and stim kits posted out so that young people could take part comfortably from home. - An in-person Young People’s Conference brought Autistic young people together for Autistic-led talks and a make-your-own DIY stim-tool workshop. Wider Community Education - Accessible autism awareness training for parents, carers, and professionals (8.5 hours of training videos produced). - Bespoke courses, workshops, and consultations shaped around the needs of each group. - Greater understanding and acceptance that lowers barriers to inclusion across education, employment, and social life. - Autistic-led neurodiversity assemblies and in-school workshops delivered in Barnet schools (including the Archer Academy), taking an authentic understanding of neurodiversity directly to pupils and staff and supported by sensory and creative resources. Beyond the Barnet programme, Aucademy CIC also provided Autistic-led training and consultancy more widely, again paying Autistic people for meaningful work. This benefits the Autistic community on two fronts: stronger healthcare services and greater economic empowerment. Aucademy CIC volunteer members also run online Zoom “body doubling” sessions as peer-to-peer support for other Autistic people, helping participants stay focused and feel less isolated while working alongside others who share their experience. Key Aucademy CIC Activities: - BrightPath OMMT partnership - Aucademy CIC partnered with bemix and Kent Autistic Trust to support the joint BrightPath project, which won the contract to deliver the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Autism training to Kent and Medway NHS and social care staff. Activities included: training all staff – both neurodivergent and neurotypical – to support cross-neurotype working; training Autistic peer and peers with a learning disability, and neurotypical facilitators on the Oliver McGowan Mandatory training materials; peer-mentoring and support; steering group representation; project oversight and decision making. Aucademy members also contributed further via e.g., sitting on interview panels for neurodivergent and neurotypical staff prospective trainers; acting as Autistic experts to the project to make sure trainers needs were understood. - NHS Training Programme – Starting July 2024, completing in March 2025, delivered bespoke Autistic-led webinars to Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, training 398 health and social care staff across psychiatry, social work, community services, and inpatient care. - AET Mind and Body – The experience of the neurodivergent pupil conference (teachers and SEND yearly conference) - Dr Chloe Farahar, Autistic wellbeing: What works?; Ben Usher-Barrass and Jessica Chudasama-Alloway from Aucademy - Situational mutism, and the persistent drive for autonomy - thinking about anxiety. - PINS – 2hrs Delivering “The diversity of Autistic experience, gender, and sexuality” for the Partnership for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools. - Kent County Council – Aucademy member invited to engage as a regular member of the Kent and Medway Care (Education) and Treatment Oversight Panel, providing Autistic insight into the care and treatment provision of vulnerable Autistic patients. - GP Best Practice London event 2025 – Aucademy were represented at the London GP CPD event, covering: Centring the Autistic experience: Enhancing practice. - University nursing student Autistic hospital simulations - Aucademy members were invited to create Autistic hospital simulations for nursing students at CCCU, and Aucademy members delivered the simulations as case study patients. These have started to grow in number delivered and type of nursing course (child; adult mental health; adult), meaning more Autistic people taking part as paid lived experts. - House of Lords Committee Autism Act 2009 - Aucademy CIC was invited as one of three Autistic experts to a private, closed meeting with the House of Lords Committee on the Autism Act 2009. The committee asked experts to share their views on how the Autism Act 2009 and national autism strategy have worked in practice, what hasn’t been effective, and what the government should prioritise next. - Training delivered to a specialist school in Dover: Creating neurodivergent friendly learning environments, to SEND staff, therapists, and teachers who support young Autistic pupils with great need, some of whom are in foster care or board at the school. (Please continue on separate continuation sheet if necessary.) - BELS – commissioned Aucademy to create six, 5-min videos for parent/ carer training and for Barnet training for school- based staff (providing paid opportunities to 3 neurodivergent adults who made the videos and 1 who edited them). Topics: o 1) sensory differences and their importance for thinking, socialising, and moving, o 2) environmental triggers and glimmers, o 3) stimming; o 4) energy accounting (self-advocacy and spoons); o 5) situational mutism (what; how; why; what helps); o 6) positive Autistic identity and self advocacy for wellbeing; Community Benefits: - Improved Healthcare Access - 90% of staff trained reported a better understanding of Autistic experience, and committed to putting accessibility strategies in place and to training colleagues - Economic Empowerment - 10 Autistic people were paid for training delivery and technical support, including one situationally speaking person who delivered professional training in person for the first time - Systemic Change - Autistic expertise is now building into NHS mandatory training across Kent and Medway - Knowledge Sharing - Free educational resources support Autistic people, their families, and the professionals who work with them - Professional Development - Healthcare staff left with greater confidence, practical strategies, and stronger skills for inclusive practice Impact: By positioning Autistic people as valued experts at the same time as improving the services they rely on, our twin-track approach builds lasting community benefit for the thousands of Autistic patients served across Kent and Medway. The result is a self-reinforcing cycle: Autistic adults are employed in meaningful work, grow their professional skills, go on to support Autistic young people, and in turn educate the wider community. This meets pressing needs today while building the capacity to sustain that support over the longer term.

Stakeholders: Autistic people, health and social care professionals, NHS commissioners, education staff, and pupils. Consultation Methods and Actions: Kent and Medway Partnership Trust (KMPT): - Consultation: Regular meetings with commissioners and health/social care staff throughout training development and delivery - Feedback: Post-training evaluation forms from 398 attendees - Action Taken: - Created project report for NHS commissioners documenting lessons learnt for future learning disability training programmes - Developed timed chapters in training videos based on feedback that content was comprehensive but intensive - Videos now structured as accessible reference tools allowing staff to navigate directly to relevant sections Barnet Education Learning Service: - Consultation: Ongoing meetings with teachers and special educational needs officers throughout the year, keeping the work aligned with Autistic pupils’ needs - Feedback: Co-created evaluation forms and personalised feedback emails to each participant, gathering direct responses from Autistic pupils and their families - Action Taken: - Project management was handed to a different Aucademy CIC member from 2025 onwards in response to staff and pupil feedback, and recent feedback from BELS hosts are extremely positive Ongoing Approach: Feedback from every stakeholder group is gathered as a matter of routine and feeds straight back into how we shape the work, keeping it responsive to the community and effective both for the people we serve and the professionals we work alongside.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration