Thursday 2nd April marks World Autism Awareness Day 2026.
Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to share early progress from its newly launched Autism Mental Health Support Service. The flow of referrals already received reflects growing awareness of the service and ensures high‑quality, personalised support for patients with autism across the Trust.
The Autism Mental Health Support Service (AMHSS) is a dedicated, neuro-affirming service working alongside mental health services and with autistic individuals to help improve mental health, reduce the need for hospital admissions and support timely, well-planned discharges. The team includes occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and nurses. All of which have received specialist training in autism.
The approach of centring care around the individual and consistently meeting the needs of autistic service users aims to ensure that every touch point of Trust mental health services will be autism aware. For example, some individuals the interaction between themselves and clinical staff is at odds with their preferred form of communication, so speech and language therapists can engage and support with interaction preferences on an individual basis.
The team also take a role in advocating for and supporting to implement reasonable adjustments in the care of patients, which can be as simple as turning down lighting during a visit but makes a huge difference to a patient with sensory issues. These reasonable adjustments help to remove barriers to care and promote better outcomes for the patients.
Since launch, the team has delivered multiple training sessions to staff across the Trust and to two external care providers. Additional sessions are already scheduled for Trust teams in the coming months, including with Hull Community Mental Health Team (CMHT), Avondale and Newbridges, Adult Learning Disability Services, Beverley and Holderness CMHT.
The team is working closely with the Dynamic Support Register (DSR) and the DSR Keyworker Service, holding monthly meetings to share information and coordinate care for individuals who would benefit from joint support. To strengthen day‑to‑day collaboration, weekly drop‑ins have also been established at a number of Trust sites, offering staff direct access to advice on supporting autistic inpatients and discussing potential referrals.
The service has now embedded both its direct offer, working alongside mental health staff to support patients and carers and its indirect offer, which focuses on supporting staff, care providers and families without direct patient involvement. This approach helps build confidence, skills and continuity for teams once the service steps back.
Hannah Pearson, Clinical Lead at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said, “Since the service has launched, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from those we have supported. As we continue to grow and develop the service we are keen to build on our early success and ensure our patients needs are met throughout their care within the Trust.”
Feedback highlights the support patient’s felt they received as part of the service delivery:
“Completely met need and offered great knowledge and understanding.”
“Helpful and easy as came to my home.”
“I finally felt seen by someone who understands and gets that our brains are programmed differently.”
“I learnt much about myself from the information and discussions in the sessions.”
“Knowledgeable, supportive staff member. I felt understood and didn’t have to repeat my story.”
“The team really understood the needs of my son.”
“This is a service that is much needed. It can prevent misunderstanding of ASD and give vital insights.”
“X has listened and sometimes that’s all people need.”
“Listened and gave me an opportunity to explain myself. Provided empathy which validated my difficulties.”
“Felt listened to and understood.”
“Was able to work at my son’s pace and adapt for his needs.”
“You really understood my needs and visited me at home.”
“Keep rolling it out to as many places as possible.”
The team will continue expanding its reach, strengthening partnerships and supporting staff across services to improve the experience and outcomes of autistic people accessing inpatient mental health care.
Patients who will benefit from this service must have a formal autism diagnosis and be currently supported by a Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust mental health team. It is for young people over the age of 16 and adults over who are registered with a GP in Hull or East Riding.