Autism: the management and support of children and young people on the autism spectrum (NICE Clinical Guideline 170)

In August 2013 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) collaborated with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) to publish a guideline entitled ‘Autism: the management and support of children and young people on the autism spectrum’. It aims to summarise the different ways professionals can provide support, treatment and help for children and young people with autism across the full range of intellectual abilities, from birth until their 19th birthday.1 NICE commissioned the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health to develop this guideline. A multidisciplinary Guideline Development Group comprising healthcare professionals, patients and carers reviewed the evidence and developed recommendations (box 1). ### Box 1 Resources NICE guidance and full guideline: http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG170 Information for the public: http://publications.nice.org.uk/managing-autism-in-children-and-young-people-ifp170 NICE Autism Pathway: http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/autism The National Autistic Society—the leading UK charity for people with autism and their families: http://www.autism.org.uk/ Contact A Family—a charity providing peer support for families of disabled children: http://www.cafamily.org.uk/ This is the first national guideline to focus on the management and support of children and young people on the autism spectrum. It should be read in conjunction with ‘Autism: recognition, referral and diagnosis of children and young people on the autism spectrum’ (NICE clinical guideline 128) published in September 2011 and ‘Autism: recognition, referral, diagnosis and management of adults on the autism spectrum’ (NICE clinical guideline 142) published in June 2012.2 ,3