A Family Perspective
AUTISM IS NOT A MENTAL DISORDER
Without a change in the classification, autistic people will continue to suffer from inappropriate treatment by professionals who don’t understand the kind of support they need.
Medicinal cannabis to treat epilepsy
Medicinal cannabis was made legal in the UK in October last year for some medical conditions, yet there are still no forms of medicinal cannabis licenced on the NHS to treat epilepsy, despite the success stories that we are hearing about.
News
Government responds to petition
The Government has officially responded to a petition calling to put a stop to the detention of people with autism and learning disabilities in Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs). Practices in ATUs includes the use of medication to sedate individuals, seclusion in padded cells, and physical face-down ‘prone restraint’ with the average stay being a […]
“Being a carer has good days and bad days.”
Charity Carers UK tells the story of a woman who within one year became carer to both her young daughter and her husband, while suffering from a disability herself… When Jocelyn’s daughter Amy was three-years-old she was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which has resulted in multiple operations and requires extensive care. Just a […]
Please join us in signing!
A petition calling on the Government to put a stop to the detention of people with autism and learning disabilities in Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs), needs 100,000 signatures to be debated in Parliament. Individuals with a learning disability or autism are supposed to be discharged from such units within 18 months into community-based care. […]
CAMPAIGN FOR ACCESSIBLE TOILET FACILITIES
Over a quarter of a million men, women and children in the UK need access to public toilet facilities that go one step further than traditional ‘disabled toilets’. Facilities that simply have a handrail next to a toilet are just not sufficient for people with very complex needs or profound and multiple learning disabilities. Nathalie […]
Very real concerns over report into ATUs
Paul de Savary This week Secretary of State for Health & Care, Matt Hancock announced an ‘immediate’ review, to be carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), into practices in Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs), including the prolonged seclusion and long-term segregation used in the ‘care’ of individuals with complex learning disabilities and autism. […]
National Stress Awareness Day
Stress is often described as one of the major barriers to leading a fulfilled life for people with autism. It affects those across the spectrum at all stages of their lives. Of course, stress can affect everyone, but there is growing awareness that autistic people may be particularly susceptible to continued high levels of stress […]
