
Each April the National Autistic Society runs World Autism Acceptance Month. It used to be called awareness. The word changed because awareness asks people to notice that autistic people exist, and acceptance asks them to change something.
In a children's home that difference is concrete. Awareness is knowing a young person is autistic. Acceptance is adjusting the house: keeping a predictable routine, giving notice before something changes, accepting that a bedroom door stays shut sometimes, not treating a meltdown as a behaviour to be corrected, and not asking someone to make eye contact to prove they are listening.
It also means not treating sensory needs as preferences. Lighting, noise, the texture of food and the smell of a cleaning product are not small things if they are the reason a young person cannot settle.
We support young people with a range of needs, including autistic young people, and we are honest with placing authorities about what a particular home can and cannot offer. If a home is not the right environment for a child, saying so early is part of the job.