People with Autism in Higher Education

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 3 December 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:08, 3 December 2019

Llywydd, I think that it's a bit more than just 'all well and good'. I think that the conversations you report are very interesting because they do reflect what I've heard from young people as well. If you have a condition that involves autism, then the period that you spend in higher education is valuable for the qualification that you might get, but it is also a really important part of your sense of being able to equip yourself to deal with the world beyond education. So, I entirely agree with what Bethan Jenkins has said about the need to make sure that the world of work is also one that understands the needs of people with autism, and that is equipped to be able to respond in a way that allows those people to make the contribution that they want to make. And there's a great deal of work that we have done, over a number of years now, to deal with mental health issues in the workplace, and with stigma that people face. But a period spent in higher education by a young person who is experiencing autism is a genuine investment, both in their own sense of qualification but also in their own sense of an ability to be able to face the world in the way that Bethan Jenkins reported people she has spoken to saying, and to be able to do that in a way that they feel confident that they will be able to deal with.