I Exist

Ok, as I am a National Autistic Society Councillor, I thought I should plug our new campaign. Our last campaign was the “Make School Make Sense Campaign” which focused on getting the right provision for children with autism, the right training for every teacher, etc. Anyway, it was a huge success, and as a result the government have made some policy changes, especially around training. So the NAS, striving for a challenge, has decided to launch a new campaign: The I Exist campaign.

We all know that children are cute. I was reading an article in The Psychologist the other day on how the human brain responds to pictures of kids compared to adults – the difference is huge! But I digress, the point is that it is much easier to talk about children and get a response because children are cute, whereas I, a young adult, am not – much as it pains me to say it.

I Exist is part of a much bigger campaign. Last year, the NAS started a drive to raise general awareness; now this phase is over, we are concentrating on Adult provision. Some startling statistics relating to this were recently brought out from an NAS survey.

60% of parents said that a lack of support has resulted in their adult son or daughter having higher support needs in the longer term, and a full third have had some severe mental health difficulties because of the lack of support. And what is more, it is expensive for statutory services to pick up the pieces. The I exist survey suggested that local authority services could save money by concentrating on preventing adults from falling apart, rather than dealing with the adults once they have.

There is even government support for this idea, in the form of a green paper published a few years ago, and yet it never seems to get put into practice – WHY?

Over 1,400 people responded to the I Exist survey. Here’s one quote that really got to me:

“She has quite calmly said that when we die, she plans to kill herself because she knows she will be completely alone and unable to care for herself. She weeps on a daily basis because she is so scared of the future. There is nobody to help her manage her daily life, and more importantly, who will love her when we’re gone?”

Parent

How can we let situations like this continue? How can we allow people to die simply because the government can’t be bothered to put a little money towards preventative services, rather than spend ten times that on intensive support, and recovery?

So, I am going to ask you a favour. Please please please PLEASE go to the campaign website, www.think-differently.org.uk sign the petition, and see what else you can do to help adults with autism.

Children with autism become adults with autism, and at the moment, there doesn’t seem to be a place for them in this world. Let’s make one.

Joshua Muggleton – Enraged Adult.