North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood, who has long been calling for both an Autism Act for Wales and Sign Language Legislation, made a fresh plea to the Welsh Government this week.
Mr Isherwood, who is Chair of the Cross Party Group on Autism and is himself hard of hearing and has family members with hearing loss, emphasised the need for legislation in both areas when responding in the Senedd to this week’s Statement by the First Minister on his Programme for Government.
He said: “I again Chaired a meeting of the Cross Party Autism Group, in this case in north Wales, last Friday. I can tell you that the autism community in Wales is completely united over the need for legislation, because it impacts so adversely on their lives, because the strategy has failed to deliver, because they need statutory duties on sector providers, they need assurance over diagnosis and post-diagnostic support and they need to tackle the atrocious levels around training and awareness.
“Similarly, the deaf community in Wales is calling for the Welsh Government to look at British Sign Language legislation. The Scottish Government has introduced legislation, and Northern Ireland is looking at how, within their powers, they could do something there. What is the Welsh Government proposing to do so that, again, the disabling experience of too many deaf people, because of the barriers that aren’t being removed, can be tackled?”
Responding the First Minister said: “In terms of autism, we’re not opposed to autism legislation in principle and he makes an interesting suggestion when it comes to British Sign Language and how we can ensure that BSL is better recognised and better entrenched in our community. That’s something on which we are happy to take views and keep an open mind.”