“That’s not safeguarding, that’s an exercise in profiling.”
Today, Rights & Security International (RSI) and Prevent Watch back Springwatch star Chris Packham’s campaign to overhaul Ofsted’s approach to autistic people and their referral to the government’s counter-extremism scheme, Prevent.
On 10 June, RSI published a series of national Ofsted trainings on Prevent, one of which made uninformed and stereotype-driven assertions about autistic people, claiming that they are more likely to become extremists or terrorists because of their ‘special interests’.
The Guardian’s coverage of this story has since sparked significant backlash against Ofsted’s trainings, including by TV presenter Packham, who is also an ambassador for the National Autistic Society.
Prevent Watch and RSI welcome this scrutiny. But it must go further.
Prevent Watch have seen a spike in the number of individuals, particularly autistic children, being referred to Prevent and such training and guidance only serves to reinforce discriminatory profiling under the guise of safeguarding.
RSI and Prevent Watch call on Ofsted and other public bodies to recognise the harm of such training and withdraw this guidance in full.
Ofsted and others: stop the profiling, and change your policies.
