Shaping policies that impact neurodivergent people

The Trust contributes to public consultations (run by the Scottish Government or a Committee of The Scottish Parliament) on issues salient to our practice, the people for whom we advocate, and neurodivergence more broadly. We produce ad hoc briefings on important subjects as appropriate, too, outlining our positions on key issues.

Last week, we responded to The Scottish Parliament’s Call for Views on its (draft) British Sign Language (BSL) Plan for 2024-30.

We are encouraged by the progress The Scottish Parliament has made to embed D/deaf inclusion in its work since the publication of its 2018 Plan. This work should be a building-block in a broader strategy on the inclusion of people with sensory difference, including neurodivergence. There is a great deal of commonality in the experiences of D/deaf and neurodivergent people. Social-communicatory differences are fundamental to D/deaf and neurodivergent people’s negative experiences in society, and Parliament should be a leader in helping to raise awareness of these experiences. We believe that the ‘skilling-up’ of hearing staff across the public sector remains an important element of fostering greater inclusion of Deaf people. Given the role Parliament plays in our civic life, it has a real opportunity to be an influential ‘role model’ in the space. While preparing our response, we heard the opinions of D/deaf people, hearing BSL users, and people with hearing impairments. We look forward to engaging with The Scottish Parliament on these important issues moving forward.

You can read our full response below.