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The call for radical change has come from the Autism Awareness Campaign in the UK launched by parents and carers Ivan and Charika Corea who are constituents of Lee Scott MP. They have a 11 year old son Charin who has ASD. They have lobbied and campaigned tirelessly for public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care according to British MPs who are now backing their call for a 10 year program of action on autism.
People with autism, parents and carers have complained that a postcode lottery to education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care still exists. According to UK Researchers one in 100 children have autism. There are 587,000 people with autism and 113,000 young people under the age of 18 who have autism according to the National Autistic Society.
Influential UK Parliamentarian Lee Scott MP for Ilford North launched a landmark debate on autism in Westminster Hall on 7th March - the debate is now regarded as one of the most important debates on autism. Lee Scott has taken up the autism baton in parliament and is seeking a 10 year program of change for all people with autism in the United Kingdom. His efforts in parliament in London are being backed by MPs of all parties.
The Autism Awareness Campaign UK are calling on the on Government to undertake a 10 year program of building specialist autism schools, building autism units in mainstream primary and secondary schools, tackle the failure of some secondary schools in bringing in educational strategies to deal with autistic children in a mainstream setting, access to further education and higher education, labour market opportunities for people with autism and to tackle the whole question of bullying and autistic children, the provision of recreational activities for autistic children are among the issues they wish the Prime Minister Tony Blair to address before he leaves office in the summer.
Recently the House of Commons Select Committee for Education released a report on bullying and called for a national inquiry into the issue. The report also highlighted the bullying of children with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in mainstream schools.
The Prime Minister acknowledged in PMQs in the House of Commons in London that autism is a very serious issue, Ivan Corea of the Autism Awareness Campaign said: 'I am delighted that the Prime Minister spoke out on autism in PMQs in the House of Commons on Wednesday. He has acknowledged that it is a serious issue and that the Government should be doing more for all people with autism. If numbers are rising we must act now to provide public services. We are calling for radical change in order to help all people with autism in the UK.'
Tony Blair created history by being the first sitting British Prime Minister to talk about autism in 2002 in the House of Commons. Last year he was presented with an autism awareness ribbon by Ivan Corea of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK.
o listen to Prime Minister's Question Time in the House of Commons, London for Wednesday 21st March 2007 (For Lee Scott MP's question on Autism) please access the website:
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page306.asp
Posted March 31st, 2007 by Autism News
Prevention of paternal age derived autism
How about a push for some education on the way to prevent the non-familial, sporadic autism that is due to men fathering babies past their early 30s. It is great to fund services for autistic children and adults, but some avenues to autism are the advancing age of the fathers of some of these children.
Men could be encouraged and subsidized to bank their semen in their mid 20s and early 30s to prevent autism, schizophrenia and the like. Men could also be educated to know that it is preferable for the genetic health of the child to father ones babies in ones mid 20s to perhaps 31-32. For heavens sake Lionel Penrose in 1955 wrote about the risks to children of older fathers.
I think in Penrose's memory we should read the rest of the paternal age research and prevent what is preventable through earlier fathering or use of sperm bank accounts.
http://autism-prevention.blogspot.com/