SBRI Healthcare, in partnership with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and Autistica, has awarded over £900,000 for the development of ten innovations that help narrow inequalities for autistic people, and people with a learning disability.
About 800,000 people are autistic. Many autistic people also have a learning disability. Both groups struggle to get the diagnosis and support that they need. That's why we've partnered on this new fund for innovative solutions.
About the funding
In May 2022 ‘Competition 20 - Autism and Learning Disabilities’ was launched. It is funded by the Accelerated Access Collaborative, in partnership with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and Autistica. The fund specifically sought innovations to help with early identification and diagnosis and equal access to effective support and care. And it encouraged applications from those collaborating across different sectors.
The projects will run for up to six months. The aim is to see which innovations are worth taking further.
What happens next
After the six months, the projects that can prove their impact and potential will be able to seek further funding for prototype development and evaluation. The ultimate aim is that successful technologies will be adopted for use by the NHS.
The awarded projects
The University of Sheffield
Awarded £99,972 for the co-development of Personalised Support Profiles for Autistic Adults Post-diagnosis based on the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning Core Sets for Autism.
The aim of the project is to co-develop a digital support needs assessment for autistic adults. This will be known as a Personalised Support Profile assessment. It will produce a report on a person’s strengths and needs and identify things in the environment that help or hinder day-to-day life.
UNEEG medical UK Ltd
Awarded £98,405 - Subcutaneous EEG monitoring for people with intellectual disabilities or autism
24/7 EEG SubQ - ultra long-term subcutaneous EEG monitoring for accurate counting of seizures. The project aims to determine whether there is a possibility this new technology may be suitable for patients with moderate to severe learning disability.
RIX Software
Awarded £83,277 - RIX Multi Me Toolkit - for person-centred Integrated Health and Care for People with Learning Disabilities and Autism.
The RIX Multi Me Toolkit enables people with a learning disability and autistic people to capture their needs and share how best to provide them with support and healthcare, using simple multimedia apps and a secure online support network. This project will refine these tools in partnership with service-users and providers.
Visit organisationLittle Journey
Awarded £79,615 to support all children to better health through personalised care: Co-designing improved inclusivity and accessibility functionality within an existing digital eSupport tool to enhance access to support for autistic children undergoing healthcare procedures and participating in clinical trials
A digital eSupport platform designed to psychologically prepare, support and inform children, and families, throughout healthcare interactions (both routine care and clinical trials). The project will research and co-design improvements to its inclusivity and accessibility profile, with specific reference to autistic children and children with learning disabilities, broadening reach and furthering it towards providing a fully personalised solution.
XR Therapeautics
Awarded £96,653 to create a more accessible mental health intervention for individuals with autism and learning disabilities.
XR Therapeutics provides a VR supported intervention to treat anxiety and phobias. The focus for this project is to adapt its model to support individuals with a learning disability, develop new scenes to help patients access healthcare, and create a roadmap to support mass adoption across NHS Trusts.
Uncommon
Awarded £98,419 for the world’s first neurodivergent wellbeing platform bringing affordable and effective mental health and wellness solutions to neurodivergent people across the globe
Uncommon is a universally accessible digital wellness platform, which helps neurodivergent GenZers understand and celebrate their unique minds, take control of their mental health, and achieve their education, career and personal goals.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and oVRcome
Awarded £91,112 to support patients with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism to ‘oVRcome’ phobias & social anxiety in their own homes.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and oVRcome are developing a Virtual Reality programme to support patients with a learning disability and/or autistic people to overcome anxieties around healthcare situations, including social stories to help patients prepare for interactions with healthcare services and VR Exposure Therapy to address needle phobias and social anxiety.
MeeToo Education trading as Tellmi
Awarded £88,472 for The Tellmi Autism project: Digital innovation to reduce suicide and increase access to effective support for autistic young people.
A free-to-access, digital, pre-moderated, peer support service with integrated psychoeducation, suicide prevention, and diagnostic screening tools to improve mental health in autistic young people.
Health Companion Ltd
Health Fabric – Unity - awarded £95,600 for a multilingual platform to improve autonomy for autistic service users.
The Unity platform from Health Fabric is an AI enabled self-management platform to enable people from diverse communities / ethnicities to manage the challenges associated with autism and empower the family to support autistic young adults to develop skills around autonomy (especially those who transition from child to adult services).
Maldaba
Awarded £96,396 to improve Annual Health Checks and Design EMIS interoperability.
This project will open up a digital communication pathway between primary care and service users so that Annual Health Check (AHC) and Health Action Planning (HAP) processes will be more inclusive and provide better access to health and care services, including health promotion.
Autistica is delighted to be partnering with NHS England and Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare (SBRIH) to solve unmet needs of autistic people and people with learning disabilities. The SBRIH funding pathway will support the research initiatives to bring new technologies to the NHS as a crucial step to enabling autistic and other neurodivergent people to live happier, healthier, longer lives.
Dr Amanda Roestorf, Head of Research at Autistica
Learn more
If you want to hear more about the outcome of these projects and other research that we are funding, join The Autistica Network.