In January 2026, ARGH Scotland joined with AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh) and SEMA (Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics) to present evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights, and Civil Justice (EHRCJ) Committee, as part of their Inquiry into Neurodivergence in Scotland.
To make sure our community’s voices were at the heart of that presentation, we ran a survey of members across all three organisations. The results painted a clear and important picture of how autistic and neurodivergent people in Scotland are experiencing education, employment, and the criminal justice system — and we took that picture straight to Holyrood.
What We Found
The survey showed systemic challenges across all three areas. In education, 53% of respondents described their overall experience as negative or very negative. In employment, 69% had experienced workplace bullying, and only 4% said they always felt safe disclosing their neurodivergence. In the criminal justice system, 38% said they had avoided or withdrawn from it entirely.
Critically, the survey also highlighted the importance of intersectionality — particularly for SEMA’s members, where race, faith, and ethnicity compound the barriers already faced by neurodivergent people.
Why It Matters
Scotland’s neurodivergent community is larger than many realise. The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland estimates it could be as many as 1 in 5 people — potentially around 200,000 people in Scotland alone. These aren’t small numbers, and the failures our survey identified aren’t isolated incidents. They are systemic.
What Comes Next
We presented this evidence to the EHRCJ Committee on 20th January 2026, and we hope it helps shape stronger, more meaningful recommendations for change. At the heart of our message was a simple principle: nothing about us, without us.
We’ll continue to advocate for a Human Rights Based Approach that genuinely includes our community in the decisions that affect us.
You can watch the committee session on Scottish Parliament TV.
You can read the report here.