The Scottish government is looking to recruit neurodivergent people to take part in a consultation about the new Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill.
The Bill will ensure the rights of people with learning disabilities, autistic people and neurodivergent people are respected and protected.
The Scottish government say they are working towards a human rights-based approach to ensure the Bill is fully codesigned with people with lived experience.
So far, it has conducted scoping work with 18 different organisations across 30 events. These events have been with national charities, disabled people-led organisations and other advocacy groups.
The government say they are currently analysing the key learnings from these events and a report will be prepared and shared with stakeholders and advisory panels.
The government is now working to establish a lived experience advisory panel that will work with the government throughout the Bill process.
Members of the panel will provide their views and information about their experiences to Scottish Government officials. This includes helping the government to understand the best way to communicate with different groups and to provide views on the key elements that need to be included in the Bill.
Panellists will consults on the Bill alongside the charities, disabled people-led organisations and advocacy groups that are already helping the Scottish Government Bill Team.
In a statement, they said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to provide information about your views and experiences to Government to help us improve lives for people with learning disabilities, autistic people, and other neurodivergent people in the future.”
You do not need a formal diagnosis to apply to be on the panel, and the government welcomes applications from anyone who identifies as being learning disabled, autistic, and/or neurodivergent.
To apply, submit an Expression of Interest form to the [email protected] email address by 5 January 2023.
To find out more, click here.
