•Autistic children are at risk of having their communication rights violated. This risk is heightened for autistic children with communication disability, which can emerge from factors inherent autism, co-occurring language disorders and societal barriers. This risk is also unacceptably high for autistic children from minority groups.
• The autistic community, researchers, clinicians and policymakers must work together to promote the communication rights of all autistic children. In particular, Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) can contribute valuable expertise to the development and implementation of impactful policies in this field.
• We propose three areas of policy action to better protect the communication rights of autistic children:
o Area 1: Promoting more Inclusive Communication practices in our society;
o Area 2: Enabling the co-creation of communication support services with autistic children and other relevant stakeholders;
o Area 3: Increasing the visibility, access and inclusivity of specialist services.