Women and Girls with Autism: Mental Health Support

Afzal Khan Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jessica Toale]

It is obvious that women tend to mask symptoms of autism more and that they present very differently from men. Our medical system is not set up to properly diagnose it in women.

The second proposal of Lolly’s law is a reassessment of personality disorder diagnoses where autism might be missed. There needs to be a national reassessment programme to identify cases of misdiagnosis and provide appropriate support for those affected. The evidence already shows that where female in-patients are diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and/or eating disorders and are reassessed for autism, 100% of them receive a diagnosis for autism.

Thirdly, specialist suicide prevention and self-harm teams must be available in all mental health units for vulnerable young people. These should be multidisciplinary teams trained specifically in females with autism. Finally, anti-ligature doors and safety infrastructure must be mandated across all in-patient mental health facilities. These are basic safeguards that can and do save lives.

Lindsey has set up a petition for Lolly’s law, which has already gathered 225,000 signatures—clear proof of the public demand for action. She has also developed a training course for child and adolescent mental health services professionals, solicitors and others involved in mental health decision making, which has been positively received by those who have seen it.

[Afzal Khan (Manchester Rusholme) (Lab)]

We understand that girls with autism are more likely to be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Without appropriate and tailored support, those girls can face unnecessary distress, particularly in the school setting. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should ensure teachers and other professionals are given the correct training to better understand autism?

[Jessica Toale]

Clearly, we need better training across many of our institutional settings. This is in part where Lindsey has put together the training course, which I hope she will be able to discuss with the Minister at some point. Lindsey is also backed by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Emotional Dysregulation Autism, the Abbey clinic and many other respected voices in this space.

Let me be frank. The current system is failing young people with autism. The number of people in long-term institutional care remains stubbornly high. It fails to distinguish between autism and other mental health illnesses. It overuses restraint and seclusion and separates children from their families, often for extended periods. It is a system that punishes difference rather than supports it. It is indefensible. Families are exhausted. Parents like Lindsey are forced into campaigning roles they never asked for, because they have been let down so completely by the very institutions meant to protect their children.

--- Later in debate ---

[Karin Smyth]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about carers. We should address that. She made an excellent point about support for parents wanting to support their own children. With regards to training, we are taking action to increase awareness and understanding of autism in health and adult social care services. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure that their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role.

To support that, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan mandatory training on learning disability and autism to the health and adult social care workforce. The first part of the training has now been completed by more than 3 million people. NHS England has also rolled out additional training across mental health services, and 5,000 trainers have been trained as part of the national autism trainer programme. That training covers autism representation in women and girls, as well as exploring misdiagnoses, including of personality disorders, for example. These trainers will cascade their training to teams across mental health services. NHS England also commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver the national autism training programme for psychiatrists, with over 300 psychiatrists having been trained in the past three years.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West spoke about her constituent’s campaign on suicide prevention. We have committed as a Government to tackling suicide through the suicide prevention strategy for England. It identifies autistic people as one of a number of groups for tailored or targeted action at a national level. To support that, the Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has commissioned a review to understand what is known about the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and experience of interventions to reduce suicide among autistic people.

More broadly, we also know that autistic people can face challenges in accessing mental health services. While it is the responsibility of local NHS bodies to ensure services meet the needs of their local populations, we are taking actions to support them to address the challenges that autistic people face. In addition to the training I have outlined, NHS England has published guidance on how to improve the quality, accessibility and acceptability of care and support for autistic adults to meet their mental health needs, as well as taking guidance on adaptation of NHS talking therapies for autistic people.

NHS England has also developed a reasonable adjustment digital flag, which enables the recording of key information about a patient and their reasonable adjustment needs to ensure that health support can be tailored appropriately. We are taking action to support early intervention and improve access to mental health services more broadly. Through the 10-year health plan, we will continue to roll out mental health support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by ’29-30. We will also ensure that support for the mental health of children and young people is embedded in the new young futures hubs, alongside a wellbeing offer to ensure that there is no wrong front door for young people seeking help.

[Afzal Khan]

Clearly, there are issues on the school side. Without tailored support, accessible information and properly funded SEND pathways, too many girls are being left behind, often resulting in mental health difficulties and poor educational outcomes. Does the Minister agree that urgent investment in SEND support in schools is needed, alongside reforms that recognise the different ways that autism presents in girls?

[Karin Smyth]

I understand that the previous debate was on SEND; I am sure my hon. Friend will pick up that point with the relevant Minister. As I have said, we are rolling out more support into schools, so that should join up to support those young people.

We are also transforming mental health services through the 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, to support our ambition to shift care from hospitals to communities. People will also get better direct access to mental health support and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the NHS app, without needing a GP appointment. Our ambition is that, through improving access to mental health support in the community, we will prevent the escalation of mental health needs for all people, including autistic people.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West asked a number of questions that I hope I have largely addressed. Regarding anti-ligature doors and specialist suicide prevention for in-patient units, I know that she has received a letter from the Department. I will make sure that officials provide a more thorough answer on the issues outlined in that request. She also raised the issue of the transformation programme, and support for and work with families. We have committed to developing a new national autism strategy to help support the direction of local systems to include families. I will ask officials to consider the specific issues that my hon. Friend raised, and make sure that she gets an answer.

I also assure my hon. Friend that, on out-of-area placements, ICBs have published plans to localise in-patient care under the national in-patient commissioning framework. To support that, we have allocated £75 million in this financial year to help stop mental health patients being sent far away for treatment. I know from my own constituency work that that is an issue of great concern. We will make sure that we are focused on it.

I am happy to request that the Minister responsible for this policy area, my hon. Friend the Member for Aberafan Maesteg (Stephen Kinnock), meet my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West and her constituent. I know that he wanted to attend this debate, but could not do so for family reasons. We will get that meeting in train.

I again thank my hon. Friend for raising such an important issue, and recognise the tireless efforts of her and her constituent to raise awareness of mental health needs, and the need for support for autistic women and girls. I also thank all hon. Members in this debate who raised issues on behalf of their constituents. This is a really important issue for many of us, and I hope that my comments have gone some way to assure people that we take it very seriously, and are committed to working with them to make life better for people.

Question put and agreed to.