Chair of the Assembly Cross Party Autism Group, Mark Isherwood AM, has called for urgent action to ensure that the needs of autistic children are properly met.
Questioning the Minister for Education in the Chamber yesterday, Mr Isherwood said too many families are in crisis because the needs of autistic children are not being identified.
He said waiting to see whether legislation works is not good enough and that urgent action is required.
He said:
“My casework is full of families in crisis because children's communication, social, sensory and processing needs have not been understood, not been identified. I've got children who've not been in school for months, even years, without alternative provision being put in place. I've got a girl of 11, who the Council is insisting has a male taxi driver. Because of her autism, she cannot have a male taxi driver, so they think they can somehow transition her over to having a male taxi driver. I've got children excluded from school because of autistic meltdown caused by the behaviour towards them. Only this week, an e-mail from a Mum whose son has autistic traits: “After a meeting with the school, we specifically discussed my son's use of swear words. The CAMHS specialist clearly backed up my explanation that my son is unhappy about these anxiety attacks, but can't control that language choice when pushed past a certain point. But the Head of Year was insistent on the school's policy towards bad language, and that he believes it cannot go unpunished.”
“It's all very well waiting to see whether legislation works. But what urgent action can we take to stop these children being branded as 'naughty', and to start identifying their needs, and adapting to those needs, before they hit crisis point?”
In her response, the Minister admitted that the “current system, in some cases, is not meeting the needs of individual children and their families”.
She added: “That's why we have got the implementation plan that we have, as we transition out of the old system into the new system. I cannot comment on any individual cases, but I'm always very clear to Members that, if there are cases where they feel I can be of assistance, I'm happy to do what I can.”
