Consultations are an official government process. They are used to gather views from people who are affected by decisions, people the government is working with, and people whose experiences should shape new policies or changes to services.

For people who do not work in policy or government, consultations can feel hard to access. They often use complex language, ask many questions, or expect people to respond in a particular way. This can make it difficult to know where to start, what is being asked, or whether your views will be heard.

At Ambitious about Autism, we believe autistic young people's lived experience is expertise. That is why we worked with autistic young people to create the guides below. They were developed to support autistic young people to understand government consultations and feel more confident sharing their experiences and ideas. 

While the Government's Schools White Paper consultation has now closed, these guides remain a useful resource for understanding how consultations work and preparing to take part in future opportunities to influence policy. 

You can use these guides to: 

• understand how government consultations work
• build confidence in sharing your views and experiences  
• learn about the Schools White Paper consultation and the issues it explored 
• understand consultation questions that use unfamiliar or technical language
• develop your own responses in a way that works for you.

You do not need to use every guide. You can choose the ones that are most helpful for you and come back to them when you need them.

If there is a question you would like us to include in future guides, please let us know here.