01-31-2006, 02:44 PM
Northern Ireland's main political parties today joined with a leading autism charity to campaign for specific legal rights for autistic people.
Representatives of the DUP, UUP, SDLP, Sinn Fein and Alliance Party joined with senior staff from Autism Northern Ireland this morning to rally behind a campaign to bring The Northern Ireland Autism Act into reality.
The official launch of the campaign took place at Parliament Buildings in Stormont.
Director of Autism Northern Ireland, Arlene Cassidy, said: "Today's official launch of the campaign is in response to the threat posed to those with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from draft recommendations contained in the Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability (Northern Ireland).
"Autism provision is in its infancy with no Northern Ireland strategic planning in place and unless protected by legislation it is vulnerable to documents like the Bamford Review and if its recommendations become law, it could plunge the treatment and care of those suffering from ASD back into the sanatorium attitudes of the 1960s.
"This would have a devastating effect on families with relatives who have ASD.
"The Bamford Review has threatened to automatically classify those with ASD as mentally ill. The reality is that ASD does not conveniently fit into a medical box. It cannot be simply squeezed into a classification, such as mental health, a learning disability, children's services or elderly care.
"ASD requires a clearly identifiable unique programme of care with a strategic implementation of service development and this is what the proposed Northern Ireland Autism Act will seek to enshrine in legislation.
"Putting ASD in mental health - as Bamford would suggest - is like classifying alcoholism as a physical disability because people can fall down when they are drunk.
"The Northern Ireland Autism Act will guard the human rights of those who suffer from ASD as well as protect the roles of their carers.
"If Bamford becomes law and people with ASD are branded as mentally ill, then thousands of children and adults with autism could be both diagnosed wrongly, and more dangerously treated incorrectly and never reach their full potential."
By Kathryn Torney of the Belfast Telegraph
Representatives of the DUP, UUP, SDLP, Sinn Fein and Alliance Party joined with senior staff from Autism Northern Ireland this morning to rally behind a campaign to bring The Northern Ireland Autism Act into reality.
The official launch of the campaign took place at Parliament Buildings in Stormont.
Director of Autism Northern Ireland, Arlene Cassidy, said: "Today's official launch of the campaign is in response to the threat posed to those with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from draft recommendations contained in the Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability (Northern Ireland).
"Autism provision is in its infancy with no Northern Ireland strategic planning in place and unless protected by legislation it is vulnerable to documents like the Bamford Review and if its recommendations become law, it could plunge the treatment and care of those suffering from ASD back into the sanatorium attitudes of the 1960s.
"This would have a devastating effect on families with relatives who have ASD.
"The Bamford Review has threatened to automatically classify those with ASD as mentally ill. The reality is that ASD does not conveniently fit into a medical box. It cannot be simply squeezed into a classification, such as mental health, a learning disability, children's services or elderly care.
"ASD requires a clearly identifiable unique programme of care with a strategic implementation of service development and this is what the proposed Northern Ireland Autism Act will seek to enshrine in legislation.
"Putting ASD in mental health - as Bamford would suggest - is like classifying alcoholism as a physical disability because people can fall down when they are drunk.
"The Northern Ireland Autism Act will guard the human rights of those who suffer from ASD as well as protect the roles of their carers.
"If Bamford becomes law and people with ASD are branded as mentally ill, then thousands of children and adults with autism could be both diagnosed wrongly, and more dangerously treated incorrectly and never reach their full potential."
By Kathryn Torney of the Belfast Telegraph