Mike German AM congratulates Autism Cymru

2.15.05pm GMT Wed 14th Dec 2005

Mike German, Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for South Wales East, has congratulated Autism Cymru for being selected by S4C as its Charity of the Year 2006. Mr German is to table a Statement of Opinion in the Assembly praising the charity's work in driving recognition of the illness, and support for sufferers and their families.

Mike German said, "Since it was founded in 2001 Autism Cymru has made a real difference to the provision and delivery of services for people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in Wales. Autism Cymru has worked hard to get the Welsh Assembly Government to develop a national strategy for ASD and it plans to bring about an All-Wales emergency services appreciation of the needs of people with ASD in 2006.

"ASD affects the lives of over 500,000 families in the UK and here is currently no known 'cure' for autism. This does not mean, however, that nothing can be done to improve the quality of life for a person with autism. I have recently been involved with a family who came to my surgery because their child needed more specialist support, which wasn't available at their local school. The child has now moved to a new school where they are accessing about 80% of mainstream lessons, but which also has a specialised curriculum including social skills, social use of language and life skills - all specifically developed for children with ASD.

"The child is now making good progress and family life has improved too. Hopefully, the work being done by Autism Cymru will help more children and families to access the specialist education; support and services they need".

Notes:

Statements of Opinion are a mechanism for Assembly Members to draw attention to issues of concern by putting their views on a subject on the record and then encouraging other members to add their name to the Statement. The full text of this Statement will read: 'The National Assembly for Wales congratulates Autism Cymru for being selected by S4C as its Charity of the Year 2006. This Assembly further commends Autism Cymru as Wales's national autism organisation and applauds its pioneering work at strategic level in inspiring the development of a national strategy for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and welcomes its intention to bring about an all-Wales emergency services appreciation of the needs of people with autistic spectrum disorders during 2006'.