An MP with an autistic son says she is “appalled” by the high suicide rate among people with the condition.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Conservative MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, spoke of her own struggles in raising her 18-year-old son James.
Speaking out: Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, pictured with her son James
Speaking in a House of Commons debate, Trevelyan said people with autism are being “failed”.
Suicide nine times more likely
The MP pointed to figures from the charity Autistica.
These statistics suggest that autistic adults who do not have a learning disability are nine times more likely to commit suicide than ‘neurotypical’ people.
She said: “As a parent, that is just awful to hear; but as an MP, it is a rallying cry.”
People with autism often see health professionals misdiagnosing their mental health problems or missing them completely.
Though 80 per cent of individuals will experience mental ill health, there were no systematic mental health checks, Trevelyan said.
Inappropriate therapies
She added that it is also a struggle for people with autism to find the right support, as health professionals can offer them inappropriate therapies.
The debate heard how health professionals had sent people with autism for group therapy sessions.
Trevelyan said this would make it more difficult for them to cope. She cited as reasons for this the individuals having problems with understanding, being able to read faces and process information.
Unfamiliar lighting, sounds and rules
She also suggested NHS data gathering may be missing those with autism. Those with troubled mental health often make GPs their first port of call.
But Trevelyan said visiting a GP can be “really, really difficult” for autistic people. This was due to “unfamiliar lighting, sounds and rules that cannot be escaped”.
Health minister Jackie Doyle-Price said the NHS must “reduce the health gap between people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and autism and the population as a whole”.
The NHS must support them to live “full, healthy and independent lives”, added Doyle-Price.
Related:
- Four in five suffer poor mental health
- Still stuck in mental health hospitals
- Mental health problems go undiagnosed
- Scandal of child mental health spending
Published: 14 December 2017
