Autism Appeal at the Labour Party Conference

The Autism Awareness Campaign UK are calling on Her Majesty's Government to provide better public services for all people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. The call went out at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester where the Government will unveil the Every Disabled Child Matters strategy this week.

[ClickPress, Mon Sep 25 2006] The Autism Awareness Campaign UK have called on the Prime Minister Tony
Blair to act on autism in the wake of the remarks made by Professor Sir Al
Aynsley Green. The UK based campaign is pushing for real change - for all
people with autism and are lobbying Ministers and MPs at this year's Labour
Party Conference in Manchester.

Ivan Corea urged Labour politicians at the party conference in Manchester to
provide all people with autism with better public services in education,
health, specialist speech therapy and respite care. The Government's
disability strategy - Every Disabled Child Matters will be unveiled in
Manchester at the conference. Government policy is systematically failing
disabled children and their families, according to four campaigning
organisations - Contact a Family, the Council for Disabled Children, Mencap,
and the Special Educational Consortium, have joined forces for the Every
Disabled Child Matters campaign.

The Children's Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Sir Al Aynsley Green
described the current provision for autistic children as 'shocking and
appalling' in an interview with BBC News. The Children's Commissioner has
been meeting with the National Autistic Society in London. The Children's
Commissioner said: "It's appalling and it's shameful for our country, the
fifth richest economy in the world, to have so many children that are not
being looked after and given the resources they need to develop to their
full potential. It is shocking and appalling."

The Autism Awareness Campaign UK are appealing to the Prime Minister Tony
Blair and Education Secretary Alan Johnson at the Labour Party Conference in
Manchester, to kick start a program of providing public services for the
90,000 children with autism in the UK by building and staffing specialist
autism schools across the country. Life is still a struggle for families
with autism and parents have to do battle to get the right education
provision for their children.There are 535,000 people with autism in the UK.
Many suffer without adequate public
services.

Ivan Corea of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK urged Prime Minister Tony
Blair to embark on a 10 year building program of specialist autism schools
given that numbers will rise during this time. He urged training for staff
in primary and secondary schools; for a new qualification for young people
with autism who leave school; access to further education and higher
education; and a compact with employers to provide labour market
opportunities for people with autism. 'Now is the time for action on
autism,' he said.

Earlier this year Ivan Corea met with Prime Minister Tony Blair in London
and presented him with an autism awareness ribbon. He urged the Prime
Minister to do more for all people with autism.

Bookmark this release: Del.icio.us - Digg - Furl - Blinklist - Reddit