AN Assembly Member, who has been calling for an Autism Act in Wales for years, has this afternoon urged the Welsh Government to support the Autism Bill proposed by Welsh Conservative Leader Paul Davies AM.
The purpose of the Bill – developed alongside the National Autistic Society – is to provide autistic people in Wales with a statutory right to receive timely services that can meet their needs and work to improve understanding of the condition.
Speaking in today’s Debate on the General Principles of the Bill, Mr Isherwood, who is Chair of the Cross Party Autism Group, said it is vital that autism has a statutory identity in Wales – with specific duties placed on Local Authorities and Health Boards - and referred to cases where autistic people are being failed.
He said:
“Every day, I and my office are contacted by Autistic people or their family members, in crisis because public service providers don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, what Autism is – despite going on the training course.
“We are constantly having to advise public service providers - including the Integrated Autism Service – on how things need to be done differently with Autistic people.”
He added: “As we heard from Autism advocate, the “Agony Autie”, at the last meeting of the Cross Party Autism Group: “there is too much focus on interventions based on behaviour, not what is driving this behaviour. The first thing to ask is ‘are they in pain?’
“As the National Autistic Society states “it has become clear that the picture painted by Welsh Government and some professional bodies, such as the Royal Colleges, differs significantly to the lived experiences of autistic people and their families”. This goes for the WLGA too.
“As the mother of an Autistic man who committed suicide in 2018 told me “he appeared just a quiet bright young man – they don’t see the struggle these kids go through every day to survive in a neuro-typical world”.
Typical of many, a mother told me that her thirteen year old daughter had been out of education for four years due to lack of knowledge and understanding of Autism. Another told me that her Autistic daughter is 240 miles away in a Mental Health hospital as a result of years of anxiety due to a lack of understanding. Another that “early recognition of Autism is vital. My eleven year son never received early intervention and will have a much harder life in consequence”.
“Others stated, for example, that “being Autistic is like being a non-person,” that “people on the autism spectrum have a huge contribution to make to society but not when they are floundering without proper understanding, support and opportunities” – and that “as a parent of an Autistic child and as a professional school nurse it is fair to say that services for Autistic people are sadly lacking”.
“Last April, I hosted and spoke at the “Going Gold for Autistic Acceptance” Event in the Assembly, at which Autistic adults put forward ideas of how we can all work together co-productively to ensure that we begin to tackle the discrimination against autistic people that has become ‘the norm rather than the exception’.
“Only a very arrogant politician would think they understand the needs of Autistic people better than Autistic people themselves.”
