Developing Autism Peer Support Worker roles

HEE is supporting NHS England to develop an autism workforce strategy which will include work to develop highly-specialist autism teams. These teams offer enhanced health services directly to autistic people in the community, providing specialist diagnostic, and focused, time limited, aftercare support services for autistic individuals.

It is recognised that peer support roles can make a significant contribution to new and emerging autism services and HEE has undertaken a substantial piece of collaborative work to identify the skills and capabilities required for a new role of Autism Peer Support Worker.

The focus of these new Autism Peer Support Worker roles is for autistic people to provide support through their own lived experience of autism to other autistic people who are experiencing health difficulties.

Autism peer support may also extend to carers/parents of autistic people, providing peer support to other carers/parents of autistic people. Carers may be employed to support family, friends and carers of autistic people using services.

Autism Peer Support Workers Skills Framework

HEE commissioned the development of a capability framework, to support autism service providers to develop new Autism Peer Support Worker roles.  The capability framework was co-produced with autistic people and a wide range of stakeholders and sets out the skills that will be required by Autism Peer Support Workers.

• The Autism Peer Support Worker Capability Framework
• The Autism Peer Support Worker Curriculum
• You said we did – consultation feedback

Further work in 2022/23

Further work will continue in 2022-23 to support autism services providers to pilot these new roles. This will include the development of an Autism Peer Support Worker Training programme, and further assistance for employers to support the implementation of these roles.