A National Autistic Society (NAS) Response To The National Audit Office (NAO) Report On Adults With Autism

Main Category: Autism
Article Date: 08 Jun 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Mark Lever, NAS chief executive said; "In the current economic climate the Government cannot possibly ignore the huge cost savings and benefits, identified by their own auditing body, of providing adults with autism with the right support at the right time. Neither the Government, people with autism nor the taxpayer are getting value for money from existing autism services and support, leaving those affected by the condition feeling isolated, ignored and often at breaking point. This is simply unacceptable.

Real savings will only be made if all Government departments work together to address the gaps in understanding and specialist support, enabling people with autism to lead more independent lives. We are, therefore, calling on the Government to ensure the NAO's critically important findings are reflected in the forthcoming adult autism strategy."

The NAO's comprehensive study looks at all the Government departments who have responsibilities towards people with autism, and finds that identifying and supporting just a small proportion more of those with the condition could save up to £67 million.

It crucially reinforces what adults with autism and the NAS have been telling the Government for some time. Whether it is in education, at work or in health and social care settings, people with autism are frequently misunderstood and discriminated against often with profound consequences for individuals, families and the economy.

At least 1 in 3 adults with autism told the NAS* they are experiencing serious mental health difficulties due to a lack of help, often meaning they require more intensive and expensive support at a later stage. For the first time, the NAO has evidence that providing this severely excluded group with appropriate health, social care and employment support could prevent their needs from escalating and result in cost savings in their millions.

The report cites a lack of awareness of the numbers of people with autism, too few diagnostic services and a poor understanding of the condition amongst GPs and other health and social care professionals as some of the key issues, which currently prevent the Government from being able to plan and deliver the services people with autism really need. The Government committed, over a year ago, to doing a prevalence study on the numbers of adults with autism. This has not yet happened and urgently needs to be undertaken.

The NAS is urging as many people with autism as possible to have their say in the consultation for the Government's strategy to improve support. The adult autism strategy could have the force of primary legislation via the Autism Bill currently going through Parliament. Consequently, it is absolutely crucial that the Government gets it right by listening to both the NAO and people affected by the condition to ensure the strategy delivers real change.

Notes

*Statistic comes from the NAS I Exist campaign. The campaign was launched in February 2008, to tackle the devastating lack of support for adults with autism and resulted in a Government commitment to develop a future adult autism strategy for England.

- The National Audit Office's report Supporting people with autism through adulthood is available from www.nao.org.uk

- For more information on the adult autism strategy and the Autism Bill, drafted by the NAS on behalf of a coalition of autism charities, please visit http://www.autism.org.uk

- Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is a lifelong developmental disability. It is a spectrum condition occurring in varying degrees of severity. Over 500,000 people have autism in the UK today and over 2 million people are affected by the disability. It is characterised by a triad of impairments: difficulties forming social relationships, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and the development of strong narrow obsessional interests.

Source
The National Autistic Society