‘Disgrace’ as autism action plan agreed in 2011 not put in place

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said people and families dealing with autism were promised a “bright new dawn” when an Autism Act intended to improve services here was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly back in 2011, but the legislation has never been fully implemented.

The act was the result of years of lobbying by the charity Autism NI, working with a dedicated all-party group of MLAs, and was heralded at the time as a step forward by all the major political parties in Northern Ireland.

A series of ‘action plans’ were drawn up in 2013 and were supposed to be completed by 2020 but, to date, none have been implemented fully.

UUP MLA Robbie Butler, secretary of the all-party group on autism, said: “There had been a lot of good work that went into developing the actual strategy and, whilst there has been some movement, it’s more than sad – it’s an indictment that we’ve failed to take action for some of our society’s most vulnerable.”

Mr Butler said that “whilst everyone recognises that there is a problem” the situation is unlikely to improve without pressure from an elected health minister.

Mr Durkan added: “The passage of this legislation in Stormont heralded a bright new dawn, the promise of improved support and services, and that has thus far failed to materialise.”

Those comments follow news that the number of autism diagnoses has more than doubled in the past five years – from 1,047 in 2013-14 to 2,345 in 2017-18.

Waiting times for autism diagnosis in each of Northern Ireland’s five health and social care trusts show that almost 2,000 children are awaiting assessment, with 52 waiting for more than a year.

Mr Durkan added: “One could argue that the situation is worse now than it was when the act was passed, worse than it ever has been before.

“We want to see an update from the department on where we are in relation to their obligation, in relation to where it is supposed to be.”

Kerry Boyd, chief executive of Autism NI, said: “To date the first action plan hasn’t even been completed, yet all three action plans should be completed by 2020. This is an absolute disgrace that so little has been done and it is disheartening and demoralising for so many of our families.”

The News Letter has invited the department of health to respond.