Autism service still has a long way to go
Parents speak out after last year’s shake-up
Autism services have a long way to go to reach the level of support offered by the now defunct Autism One Stop Shop, parents have said.
Parents - who petitioned South Lanarkshire Council to fund the expert support service in Motherwell - say the current setup is not the “like for like” service promised by the local authority in spring last year.
Karen Noble, who led the campaign, spoke to the Reformer as South Lanarkshire Council published an update on its autism strategy.
It will see a full-time project coordinator employed for two years to manage the new Autism Resources and Co- ordination Hub ( Arch) established at the Jean Brownlie Centre in Hamilton.
“We are still waiting for like for like services,” Karen said. “I know it will take time, but it has been nine months now.
“They have set up ARCH which they are still trying to get up and running at the moment. They have support groups running from there and they have been running courses but there’s a long way to go and they know that themselves.
“They only have an autism expert on a Monday and Friday and she is seconded to the service for two days per week. There’s no one on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
“There needs to be someone with expertise, someone who will start to work with the children.
“They have stopped the Understanding My Diagnosis sessions and sibling support for people who live with kids with autism.
“Before there was support with social skills for people with autism and nothing like that has been set up yet.”
Karen did however, commended the council for its delivery of the Early Bird Healthy Minds programme which equips parents with the skills they need to help their child maintain good mental health.
But Liam Purdie, head of children and justice services at South Lanarkshire Council, said direct support for children would be offered soon.
He said: “The support needs of primary-aged youngsters and teenagers with autism has been identified by both ARCH and our autism partners and, as a result, three direct-support groups that will address this gap are already being planned in collaboration with COAST (Carers of Autism Spectrum Together), SAIL ( Supporting Autism In Lanarkshire) and a certified Lego therapist who is also a support teacher within South Lanarkshire Council health and social care education services.
“This will provide a social inclusion group for primaryaged children run by COAST and a second similar provision for teenagers run by SAIL, with both groups running in ARCH after school hours. It is intended to start both of these parent/carerled groups in late March/early April to allow sufficient time to ensure beforehand that all volunteers are PVG-compliant.
“The Lego therapy group will also be hosted within ARCH and will provide to primary-aged children with autism an opportunity to be supported using an accredited autism intervention strategy.”
At a recent meeting of South Lanarkshire Council’s executive committee councillors agreed to release funding for the fulltime project co-ordinator post, a part- time clerical assistant and the operational costs of the Jean Brownlie Centre.