Western Mail Column: Wales must take care as it leads the way on ASD

Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, outlines how the Assembly Government is tackling this challenge of improving the provision for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autism is a lifelong developmental condition that can occur in varying degrees of severity resulting in difficulties with social interaction, communication and imagination.

Thankfully, awareness of ASD in Wales has come on in leaps and bounds over the past five or six years, but there is still so much more that we can all do.

That is why I was delighted to be able to announce on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government last week the launch of a new, wide-ranging action plan that will help the estimated 30,000 that are either directly or indirectly affected by Autism in Wales.

As a result of establishing the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan, Wales is the first country in the world to have established a national action plan for autism.

But we are conscious of the fact that with introducing an innovative policy comes responsibility, as our colleagues in England, Scotland, Ireland and beyond will now be looking to us to act as pioneers in this respect.

This new cross-cutting action plan, that has been allocated £1.8m for the first year – in addition to the £1.7m previously allocated to support children with ASD in the revenue support grant since last year – is intended to drive improvements across both children, young people’s and adult services in health, social and education services in Wales and expanding into areas of housing, leisure and society in general.

So, how do we see the action plan actually helping those who are either directly or indirectly affected by autism in Wales?

Integral to the success of the action plan is the appointment of an implementation support manager that will be able to drive forward the first key actions – which is why I am delighted with the appointment of Hugh Morgan, chief executive of Autism Cymru, to this crucial role.
One of the key actions is the appointment of an autism “champion” by each local authority in Wales, who will be tasked with mapping out needs and services at local level.

Hugh’s role will be vital in this respect. He will have to liaise with the LA champions and draw together the delivery of the action plan. This will provide the foundation for future work and is integral to its success. I am more than confident that Hugh and local agencies will deliver against this very challenging agenda.

While the first year is crucial to future developments, it is evident there is an ongoing need to undertake other actions to vastly increase the awareness and training of practitioners within the education, health and social care sectors.

We are also committed to establishing a Welsh Assembly Government Task and Finish Group this year, to investigate, evaluate and report on the evidence for effective interventions and models of services for adults with autism, an area that has not been adequately explored previously.

This will involve many stakeholders in the public, private and voluntary sector, including both major autism charities, Autism Cymru and National Autistic Society.

The Welsh Assembly Government has shown it’s commitment to this issue and the publication of the ASD Strategic Action Plan, the allocation of funding, the appointment of someone of Hugh’s calibre are all developments to be celebrated.

Autism is a global phenomenon and I’m both proud and excited by the fact Wales is playing a leading role in helping to develop responses to it on the world stage.