Time for Autism

Time for Autism is a ground-breaking education programme that aims to transform healthcare for autistic people by increasing the knowledge and understanding of medical students. The project is a collaboration between Brighton and Sussex Medical School, local families, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, local charities and voluntary groups. The Time for Autism programme is a mandatory part of the fourth year of the medical curriculum at BSMS. Students learn about autism in the classroom from specialists in the field including autistic adults and parents/carers of autistic children. The students are then paired with a family who has a young person on the autism spectrum. The students visit their family at home three times over the course of the year. During the visits students have a unique opportunity to talk to families and listen to their experiences within and outside of healthcare settings. They learn more about autism and the impact it has on day-to-day life by getting to know the young person and the family. In Time for Autism the young people and their families are the teachers. Time for Autism has established an advisory group to provide the programme with advice on autism and issues affecting autistic people and their families. Members of the group are autistic and/or have autistic children. The group meets regularly and continues to contribute to the development of the programme. We are looking for families in Brighton and Hove and across Sussex to take part in the Time for Autism education programme at Brighton and Sussex Medical School designed to teach medical students about autism. Please contact the team for further information.