‘I can’t say that anything has changed’: parents of autistic young people (16–25 years) discuss the impact of the Children and Families Act in England and Wales

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Crane, L., Davies, J., Fritz, A., Portman, K., O’Brien, S., Worsley, A., & Remington, A. (2023). ‘I can’t say that anything has changed’: parents of autistic young people (16–25 years) discuss the impact of the Children and Families Act in England and Wales. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1250018

Publication date: 14 Aug 2023 Added to AutiHub: 12 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
7
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 7 (14.3%)
  1. Laura Crane
  2. Jade Davies
  3. Anne Fritz
  4. Kerrie Portman
  1. Sarah O’Brien *
  2. Alison Worsley
  3. Anna Remington

Abstract

Introduction In 2014, changes to special educational needs and disability (SEND) legislation were introduced in England and Wales. These reforms aimed for young people and their families to receive the help and support they need, have a say regarding their support needs, and achieve better outcomes. Methods We examine the views of parents of autistic young people (16–25 years) regarding the impact of the reforms, several years after their introduction. In total, 115 parents of autistic young people (16–25 years) in England and Wales took part in our research: 84 completed an online survey, one took part in an interview, and 30 participated in both the survey and interview. Quantitative data, collected via the online survey, were analyzed descriptively. Qualitative data, collected via the survey and interview, were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results Parents overwhelmingly reported that their experiences had not improved since the introduction of the SEND reforms. This experience impacted their own, and their children’s, wellbeing. Parents felt that the reforms were simply delaying the inevitable, and there was still limited support for them or their children as they transitioned to adulthood. Discussion Despite promises of a radically different system, and the potential of these reforms, parents reported that little had changed for them or their children since the introduction of the Children and Families Act.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 18:20.

Cited references
41
With a DOI
32
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
9
5 / 41 (12.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
6 / 41 (14.6%)
References with detected author names
36 / 41 (87.8%)
Without detected author names
5
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
7
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
127
From DOI or external metadata
127
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
53 / 127 (41.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 74 / 127 (58.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
5 / 127 (3.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 5 / 53 (9.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 4 / 103 (3.9%).
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