Parents in the UK will have to wait until the autumn to see the guidelines for GPs that will instruct them on how to treat children with autism.
According to The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), a considerable number of parents and professionals met the 28 March deadline for making their views known on the improvements they wanted to see in autism services run by the National Health Service.
NICE is now preparing its final guidelines, setting out best practice in treating children with autism. These are due to be launched on 11 September.
Concerns among parents that general practitioners have little training and sympathy with health issues affecting children with autism could be forced to change if NICE’s draft guidelines for GPs are put into practice.
Entitled ‘Autism spectrum disorders: recognition, referral and diagnosis in children and young people’, the draft guidelines for GPs refer to the treatment of gut and immune disorders, food allergies and mental health issues, all of which commonly beset children with autism.
Following coverage of the NICE draft guidelines for GPs in its recently launched first issue, Autism Eye has been inundated with calls from parents complaining about the way doctors have treated their children. One mother said her doctor told her to expect her son to “outgrow” his autism when she asked for further medical investigations into his food allergies.
The delays that commonly occur in diagnosing children with autism, which can mean a delay in accessing vital services, may also diminish if NICE’s guidelines are put into practice.
Dr Fergus Macbeth, director for Clinical Practice at NICE, wants such delays to end. In his view, a correct diagnosis of autism can “bring a profound sense of relief to some children and young people from what can be an intense feeling of isolation from the rest of the world”.
Published: 23 March 2011
