Speaking at today’s launch of the National Autistic Society Cymru report ‘Act Now: An Autism Act for Wales’, which he sponsored, North Wales Assembly Member and Chair of the Cross Party Autism Group Mark Isherwood AM said an Autism Act for Wales would “give people with autism the confidence that they will receive the support they need.”
Mr Isherwood said the journey in calling for an Autism Act for Wales has been central to the work of the Cross Party Autism Group and that at the group’s meeting in November 2014 members voted unanimously in favour of calling for an Act.
He said:
“Leading directly from that decision, in January 2015 I secured a debate on the issue in the Senedd Chamber.
“The motion I proposed called upon the Welsh Government to introduce an Autism Act for Wales. The motion was passed with 29 members voting for and while there were abstentions, not one member voted against.
“The debate has moved on since then. The National Assembly for Wales elections will be upon us in less than four months and there is no better time for an Autism Act and the issues that face people on the autism spectrum, their friends and families to be on the agenda of all political parties in Wales.”
He said the findings of the survey detailed in the Report provide the hard facts of life in Wales for people with autism.
He said: “It cannot be right that only one in ten people with autism are in full time employment. It cannot be right that people are still waiting years and years for a diagnosis. And getting that diagnosis of autism is an important first step and is in addition to meeting that person’s care and support needs. It can also not be right that we have a young child in Wales responding to the survey with this: ‘My Mum always cries because she always has meetings with people who don’t listen to me.’ They go on to state – ‘School is horrible, I get picked on, no one cares. My head hurts when it’s loud but I can’t get away. I have no friends and no help. Mum asked social services for help and was told we don’t meet criteria…’
Mr Isherwood added: “Quoting Mark Lever, National Autistic Society UK Chief Executive (in last January’s Assembly debate), I stated that “although the Autism Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan for Wales was a ‘world first’, autism didn’t have a statutory identity, which means people are often not able to access effective support unless they have associated mental health problems or learning disabilities”.
“I added that for Wales to reassert itself at the vanguard of autism, there needs to be an Autism Act in Wales, giving people with autism the confidence that they will receive the support they need.”