Lord Maginnis delivers stinging indictment on NIO attitude to Autistic Children in Lords today
UUP Peer Lord Maginnis, speaking today in the House of Lords, delivered at stinging indictment on the “total disinformation and misleading attitude” between the Northern Ireland Office, the various Departments and Parliamentarians.
Lord Maginnis pointed to the government’s approach to Autism in Northern Ireland as proof and added that “it is in relation to a matter such as Autism that the effects are most profound and tragic”.
Today’s debate on Autism was brought forward by Lord Astor of Hever. Lord Maginnis is Vice-President of Autism N.I. and is someone with personal experience of the condition known properly as Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
He tabled question after question in the Lords to find out how the government approaches Autism in Northern Ireland and says he came up against the most devious and obstructive administrative attitude imaginable, adding that the bureaucracy is confused, inept and evasive to the point of irresponsibility.
In a statement in the House, Lord Maginnis said,
“I would plead with Government to recognise, before it is too late, that there is major and growing problem facing us. To fail to address the consequences of the huge escalation in Autism would be a tragedy.
This failure exists in Northern Ireland . I regret to say I have come up against the most devious and obstructive administrative attitude imaginable. The bureaucracy is confused, inept and evasive to the point of irresponsibility.
I intend to illustrate this opinion within the context of answers I have received to Parliamentary questions. This is about the lives of vulnerable, young children and their families and it is about time the matter was properly aired.
The condition most often becomes noticeable in children around the age of three. From three until the age of seven or eight is a crucial time in the ‘learning curve’ of a person’s life. Language, experience and social awareness are accelerating at an enormous rate and where there is this inhibitor – autism – the developmental loss can be devastating. Hence early assessment and early intervention are crucial.
I was assured by the Secretary of State in a letter dated 30th June, “Health Boards and Trusts … are charged with commissioning and delivering local services on a permanent basis to meet the needs of their local population”. But let’s look at what one finds when it comes to children right on the verge of those vital 5 learning years - 3 year olds who show signs of being autistic, and who need to be urgently assessed.
In reply to written questions I was told at 31 December 2005 that some 686 children in Northern Ireland were waiting to be assessed – some for up to 35 months. Let’s think about that – 3 out of those vital 5 years at the beginning of school life – 3 years without the necessary one-to-one classroom assistance that can totally transform an autistic child’s life.
Those 686 awaiting assessment have now been revised to 652. If one can even believe that, we have a reduction by a mere 5% in 6 months – a rate of resolution which could in theory mean the backlog will be resolved by 2016 – how many children’s future will be blighted in the interim?
But on assessment itself we find the greatest deceit of all.
In June 2005 I was told, “Information on the number of children referred for suspected autistic spectrum disorder assessment and the current waiting times for assessment are not collected centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost”. Yet a mere six days later I was told “The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety’s priorities for action 2004–05 required boards and trusts to establish multidisciplinary diagnostic, assessment and early intervention teams to provide for improved life outcomes for around 200 children and young people with autism each year.”
Now if statistics weren’t available on 8th June 2005 on what basis were such measures able to be planned and sanctioned over 2 years earlier – to be implemented by March 2004? Can I be blamed for believing that someone is systematically distorting or concealing the facts?
In reality, despite that 2004-05 Departmental requirement only 7 Trusts, out of 4 Health Boards & 18 Trusts, have two years later established these teams.
Throughout all this bureaucratic and administrative chaos Autism N.I. has for 16 years helped those with ASD by providing advice and support to parents. It has been trying to encourage a coordinated approach by Health & Education departments but has been constrained and obstructed at every turn. While we at Autism N.I. don’t pretend to have all the answers we, sadly and through personal experience, do know a great deal more than most and, bluntly, we can offer government the help it so obviously needs – but it has to be a two-way process.
Autism NI, the main support organisation in Northern Ireland, gets less than 4p per day for each of around 3,500 autistic children.
Autism cannot be cured but there are very few autistic children whose lives cannot be immeasurably improved by early assessment and early intervention. Yet what response does one find? Evasion, equivocation, distortion and deception. Is this how we treat the most vulnerable and the needy within our society? Is this how Government wants to be remembered? Or is Government willing to change and accept the need for partnership, for proper planning and for a realistic approach? “