A new guide has been published to help practitioners consider how human rights can be used to support decision-making and enable positive outcomes for young autistic people and young people with a learning disability.
The guide was commissioned by the Local Government Association with the British Institute of Human Rights and focuses on the importance of upholding human rights to promote person-centred and least restrictive practice.
It is aimed specifically at practitioners supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability aged 14 to 25 and includes information about human rights duties and a range of case studies to show how human rights can be upheld in practice.
The UK’s Human Rights Act (HRA) protects individuals’ fundamental rights and freedoms. It incorporates 16 rights from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law, making them enforceable in the courts. It is designed as a framework to help negotiate better outcomes at a practice level, outside of courts.
The guide highlights how practitioners can use the HRA framework as a practical tool to help inform their practice and deliver quality, person-centred care. This includes being able to review and change decisions internally with colleagues and in interactions with other services.
It also discusses how they can work with young people, their advocates, families or carers so they empower them to know and ask for their rights to be met and to listen and respond when they raise concerns about public bodies not respecting or protecting their rights through everyday discussions and negotiations.
There is also information on how care planning plays a crucial part in making sure that young autistic people and young people with a learning disability get the appropriate support for their individual needs. This means that care plans will reflect the young person’s needs and views and that any decisions about restrictive interventions are appropriate for that individual.
The guide discusses key rights, including the right to be free from discrimination, the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence, the right to liberty, and the right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment.
