North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd Cross-Party Group on Autism, Mark Isherwood, who has previously sought to introduce an Autism Bill in Wales, believes this should be revisited due to “bad practice being allowed to continue to exist”.
Responding to yesterday’s Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services ‘Neurodivergence Improvement Programme’, Mr Isherwood said he “hears almost daily from neurodiverse people, their families and carers, who are still having to fight for the support and services they need to enable them to lead independent lives” and disagreed with the Minister who said there’s no point in revisiting the possibility of introducing an Autism Bill.
Speaking in the Senedd Chamber he said:
“I also sought to introduce an Autism Bill before Paul Davies, and I have to disagree, based on my daily casework, with the Minister when she said there’s no point in revisiting this issue, because I assure you that where good practice exists it’s laudable, and it’s good for the people who live in those areas, but bad practice is being allowed to continue to exist because we still don’t have the legal duties that would have been introduced by my Act and then Paul’s Act. I should also declare I have members of my family who have neurodiverse conditions.
“Neurodevelopmental conditions are covered by the Equality Act 2010, requiring understanding of - and adjustments for - people known or believed to have lifelong neurodevelopmental conditions, including ADHD and Autism Spectrum Conditions. However, although you state that 'We are working in partnership with people who have lived experience of neurodivergence and their families' and that 'The focus on early help is essential', I hear almost daily from neurodiverse people, their families and carers, who are still having to fight for the support and services they need to enable them to lead independent lives, only to be blamed by senior officials who refuse to understand either their neurodiversity or their legal duties under the Equality Act, the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and of course the statutory code you referred to.
“How do you therefore respond to a Flintshire constituent with diagnosed conditions, including autism and ADHD, who e-mailed me within the last fortnight, speaking on behalf of both herself and the ever growing number of other Flintshire families in a similar position, who are having to support each other, and she e-mailed as follows:
'We’re concerned about the number of children being removed instead of preventative services being put in place for those families who need support. I’m sure I’ll have a target on my back now, so I may as well make it worth it, given their gaslighting, discrimination, unlawful and corrupt behaviours. We’re tired of the bullying and failures whilst they pretend to be autism friendly under the guise of the North Wales Integrated Autism Service. They’re a danger to society and have traumatised many, but what makes it worse is they show no remorse, no compassion and no sign of changing'.
“How will you listen to these people whose lived experience is horrifying to listen to on a daily basis, and of course deeply, not just traumatising, but agonising for them, and in some cases leading to outcomes that are shocking and in some cases unbelievable for those families?”
In her response, the Minister said “I am not in any way denying the difficult experiences that people are having and have had. I think that what you described in terms of your constituents about discrimination and bullying and about children being removed, I think that is shocking and I think I would need to see more details of what happened there in order to tackle those issues, because I certainly do not think that anything like that should be happening in the services that we provide”.
She also said: “We are doing everything we can to work together in partnership with people who have got that lived experience, in order to inform the progress that we are planning to make”.