Assembly passes critical Autism legislation

The Private Member’s Bill was sponsored by South Antrim DUP MLA Pam Cameron.

Commenting after the debate, Mrs Cameron said: “As chair of the All Party Group on Autism, I know autistic children and adults are facing huge challenges accessing pre and post diagnosis support, with provision varying drastically within each health trust area.

“The new legislation will end this postcode lottery by strengthening the current Autism Act (NI) and introducing an independent scrutiny mechanism to drive forward regionally consistent autism services. I carefully considered the views of autistic adults, families and the wider autism community when developing this legislation which I am confident will deliver better outcomes for everyone.”

CEO of Autism NI, Kerry Boyd added: “After years of lobbying for better services, I am delighted that this Bill was passed with support from all political parties.

“Autism NI has worked extremely hard to ensure that the content of the Bill reflected the needs of our autism community here.

“The last few months have been very stressful as we were unsure whether there was enough time left within this current mandate for the Bill to be passed, so I am very relieved and grateful for the victory.

“It is time for person-centred autism support services to be delivered, which are easily accessible from childhood right through to adulthood.”

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