Autism Diagnosis
Debate between Bambos Charalambous and Cheryl Gillan(6 years, 7 months ago)
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Bambos Charalambous
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. One of the areas I referred to previously was the need for the 2009 Act to be reviewed by the Secretary of State. Perhaps that is the way forward, but I await the Minister’s response.
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
We are entering the period of reviewing the implementation of the 2009 Act. It will shortly be the 10th anniversary of the Act as well, so it is important that that is followed through on a cross-party basis. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government will certainly be, and are already being, held to account.
Bambos Charalambous
I thank the right hon. Lady for that helpful intervention; we look forward to seeing how that progresses.
The autism diagnostic assessment should start within three months of referral to the autistic team. That standard was set by independent experts, and for good reason. It is a fact that autistic people who are not diagnosed early enough are also highly likely to develop other neurodevelopmental conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—ADHD—dyslexia or dyspraxia. Early diagnosis and intervention could help to reduce the prevalence of those additional conditions.