Autism bill awaits royal sign-off

By Sunil Peck

Legislation is to be introduced which campaigners say will improve health and social services for people with autism. But some activists have told Disability Now that there has been a basic failure to include people with autism in the development of Government policy.

The Autism Bill started out as a Private Members’ Bill drafted by the National Autistic Society (NAS) on behalf of a coalition of autism charities and was championed through Parliament by Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan.  It now only requires the Royal Ascent to turn it into law.

Mark Lever, chief executive of the NAS, said: "Thousands of adults with autism told us they were experiencing serious mental health difficulties due to a lack of support. After a year of lobbying, this is the watershed moment they have been waiting for – this law could literally transform lives."

Under the new law, the Government’s forthcoming adult autism strategy will be legally enforceable and must be published within the next six months.

New responsibilities the NHS and local authorities will be expected to fulfil will include providing diagnostic services for adults with autism and better training for health and social care staff.

Chris Goodchild (pictured), who is 43 and has Asperger syndrome, says that the bill should raise levels of understanding of the characteristics of autism in the medical profession.

He said: "I was diagnosed when I was 41. I was hospitalised for 18 months as a fifteen year old with acute anxiety disorders and depression. The Asperger syndrome diagnosis was a life-saver because I had reached such a low with depression that I did not want to go on living."

But some campaigners have criticised the bill on the grounds that it was drafted without the involvement of disabled people.

Russell Stronach, Co-Chair of the Autistic Rights Movement UK (ARM UK), said that the bill represented a recognition among ministers that the needs of people with autism were unmet.

But he said that it was essential that user-led organisations were involved during the final drafting of the Autism Strategy.

He said: "ARM UK notes that the government has patently failed to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities. It states that in the development and implementation of legislation and policies, parties shall consult with and involve people with disabilities. No such involvement has taken place."

He added that it was vital that the forthcoming adult autism strategy includes the establishment of structures and mechanisms to enable autistic people to play a full and meaningful role in the implementation of the adult autism strategy.