National Autistic Society Reviews 25

Supported my family and others during a challenging period

Don't actually help autistic people - just put out 'information' most of which has abelist undertones. Just look at there contact us page, there's no actual option for an autistic person to contact them - they care about press and donations and for autistic people it's 'call 999 if your in crisis'.

Back in 1980 my son was diagnosed as having autism which back then seemed to be rare. I went with my son and wife to an interview at the nas site in north london as the local child development centre recommended his removal and wanted him to be put in the care of the nas home. We were shocked on arriving to discover that they were eager to take our son and that he would be sharing a room with much older children some of whom had violent tendencies. At thi time my son could not talk and was in his own world. on a tour of the premises it was clear that some of the young people stayimg there were being treated harshly and with no softness at all. There was a lot of shouting at these children. We decided not to take up the offer and then had a 2 year battle as this decision was not well received. We never got any support from the nas . My son grew up and managed to speak very well in the end and thought it would be a great idea to work at the NAS. He was greeted with bullying and lack of any empathy. he found this experience to be very disturbing and 20 years later he is still angry about it. Reading about Mendip house made him very angry and we uirge you to not support this organisation as they seem to be toxic

Did volunteer work for 2 and a bit years. Ran a youth club for them that a friend and I started. Lost my brother in an accident and they were less than sympathetic clearly only thinking about the youth group and the face of NAS in our area. Awful. Will never give them the light of day again.

I've tried to get their interest for an adult group in Swansea but am told there isn't one. My emails have been ignored. They seem to be only interested in donations. I was on a waiting list for diagnosis and since, received that, but with zero help from them.

I applied for a job with them everything went through fine DBS checked etc...i went through a rigorous check which took forever to complete... i was told the line manager would get in touch for a start date....this was in January still not heard from them up till now...i am just glad this wasn't my main income job i would have been screwed financial wise...

They do absolutely nothing to help autistic people which is their entire premise for existing. I called them looking for generalised support for me (an autistic adult) and they couldn't offer me anything at all except accessing OTHER organiaations/services so clearly they do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. They are blatantly offering zero support for autistic people and they need to be shut down immediately. I'm appalled.

I concur everything the other reviewers have mentioned about NAS. They are utterly useless and it would be a complete waste of time reaching out to them. They offer no ongoing support or help to Autistic people or their families who are mistreated by local authorities. Some of their volunteers even appear to have a poor grasp of English it seems since they constantly misinterpret what has been communicated to them when responding via email. I can add the National Autistic Society to an endless list of useless, dubious, and over exposed organisations who promise much but do very little. Best to avoid!

Awful they have one young person with no life experience say you don't have autism because you moved your arms at the right time and I was probably just depressed

I went to their website to research a serious issue. What I read was a piece of fluff obviously written by AI that didn't tell me anything. I can't immediately trash them as an organisationon that basis but it wasn't a positive experience.

My points would be zero absolutely appalling for a charity set up to support persons with autism of every age and their families, they dont support they dont advise just email and signpost you to other charities to help you whats the point of having NAS anymore no point, what are they doing all day they not supporting us??
USELESS

NAS is failing the UKs neuro diverse population it was originally created to serve and for whom it is paid to advocate and fight for.
Typically, as the largest and longest serving Autism charity NAS' has fallen into the ditch of complacency. Every time I've contacted NAS for advice I have come away empty handed. They have become a cash cow at the expense of the taxpayer (govt grants), the abundant '0' hour contract workforce and huge arm of volunteers. There is very very little evidence that their internal monitoring or reviewing systems are effective. Are they genuinely responsive to service users evaluation? Are they acting for the UK nuerodiverse community and their carers anymore or are they doing more to support the self interests of their senior administration? They need to have an external audit and work culture detox and also have service users and their voices integrated into every aspect of their organisation. Smaller ASD charities are doing a better job with a less resources.

Awful organisation that pretends to support autistic people. No support whatsoever, just marketing questionnaires with meaningless questions. Formalities and burrocracies to pay neurotypical wages. We need autistic organisations led by autistic people. One of them is the amazing: Autistic Parents UK. Support them instead.

If I could give 0 stars I would! Awful awful charity. Please do not give a penny to this organisation. They do nothing support families infact they do the complete opposite! Closing down a much beloved respite /residential provision at the Robert Ogden School in a space of a few weeks. Leaving families with no alternatives. Shame on you NAS 😡

The CEO of the national autistic society Caroline Stevens is playing God with very vunarble young people's lives,
She has made the reckless decision based fiance,
The respite facility at the Robert Ogden in thurnscoe south Yorkshire will close at the end of July 2023 with only a few weeks notice!
This heartless decision has left some children feeling suicidal and parents distressed,
Caroline is the CEO of a charity and her salary is 140k a year!!!
Some people have no shame.

My son is 25 and severely disabled with autism and the NAS have done precisely nothing over that quarter century for him or his family. The Challenging Behaviour Foundation have done an amazing job and show up the NAS as a pointless charity enterprise!

Dangerous whitewashing of unsuitable clients, Clients that made the papers for their issues.
Staff retention low and made papers for abuse of clients and police involved.
The NAS has corrupted from original purpose and isn't anything more that an illusion of support.
Anyone half capable of anything has wrong type of Autism.
Mainly government funded and rotten to core

Just had an unhelpful rude, curt response from an email I sent. Just what exactly do these people do? Sad that there are so many poor reviews.

No help for people with autism who aren't at the severe end of the spectrum. Chief Exec on a shedload of cash. An abomination of a charity. Find a hard working local autism charity working for ALL people on the spectrum and support them instead.

AVOID AVOID AVOID An awful discriminatory organisation to work for. I waited 6 months to start my job as a support worker. The manager of the home in Wellingborough was terrible, the woman in HR was useless and when I told her about how unfairly I was treated at the ‘house’ she dismissed it all with a letter and a p45