Re: Autism Bill - UK petition to sign
Stephen Horne
<phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk> wrote:
>The Bill itself is available at
>http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmbills/010/2009010.pdf
>The great news is that it has passed it's early stages, despite
>government opposition.
I've downloaded the bill - not read it properly yet, but the contents
page suggests that something unusual is happening - see sections 3 to
6.
"""
1 Duty to record and provide information on the number of children
with autism
2 Duty to consider needs of children with autism in preparing a
children and young people’s plan
3 Duty to promote effective transition for young people with autism
4 Duty to recognise the needs of persons with autism
5 Duty to promote services and support for adults with autism: England
6 Duty to promote services and support for adults with autism: Wales
7 Interpretation
8 Expenses
9 Short title, commencement and extent
"""
Yes! - adult autism is actually being recognised for once!
I assume Scotland and N. Ireland are missing due to devolution etc.
From the interpretation section...
"""
“autism” includes all autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger’s
syndrome;
"""
That's the only mention of Asperger, so the message is presumably that
the label is beside the point, autism is autism, and that the only
variation that's to be taken as important is the genuine variation in
symptoms, abilities and needs. Though maybe that's just me being
over-optimistically silly.
In summary, my mature analysis of this for the benefit of those
outside the UK is as follows...
We might get services! Nur nur na-nur nur!
Stephen Horne
<phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk> wrote:
>And best of all, it requires consultation with "users" on what
>services are provided.
>(section 2, para 2d for children, Section 5, para 4b for Adults)
Excellent
>Hope you've signed the petition :)
Yep.
Now to bully everyone I know into signing it too. Trouble is, that's
not many people. Extroverts have an unfair advantage when it comes to
petitions :-(