Debate contribution: Autism Mental Health Services
Debate contribution by Mrs Deborah Erskine on .
- MLA
- Mrs Deborah Erskine
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 20 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Autism Mental Health Services
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4744924
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Like Mr Boylan, I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion. I do so as vice chair of the APG on autism.
Mental health issues affect so many in our communities. Today is solely about mental health services for those living with autism, however. We all know the message "It's OK not to be OK", but what about those who live with a health condition that makes their ability to communicate their emotions much more difficult? That is a situation that many children, young adults and adults in Northern Ireland are experiencing today. They do not feel that there is a service available that understands them or their needs when it comes to dealing with autism and mental health difficulties combined. When one looks at the research figures, they point to the extreme need to grapple with the problem, as has already been highlighted in the Chamber. Figures show that autistic adults are nine times more likely to die by suicide, while autistic children are 20 times more likely to self-harm. If we delve deeper, however, we see that there are families, parents and carers struggling with the stress and worry of how to help their child or young adult within structures that are currently bursting at the seams and that ultimately do not have the capacity or resources to cope. We have all dealt with constituents who are facing such issues. Organisations such as Autism NI have been lobbying and fighting hard for a specialist mental health service for autism. There needs to be autism training for those working in the health service to be able to meet patients' needs and treat them effectively so that they are not disadvantaged in their care right at the point of need. Given the prevalence of autism in Northern Ireland, such a service is needed, and if we do not act, need will continue to grow. More crucially, lives will be lost. At this juncture, I place on record my thanks for the work that our healthcare staff do. They are trying to provide services — through child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), in EDs or on wards — in pressurised environments. I am sure, however, that there will be mental health professionals who will say that training needs to be improved and that there needs to be a specialist mental health service here that will ultimately lead to better outcomes, potentially 10 times over, for people who are living with autism. I ask the Minister of Health to ensure that he will be informed by service users, families, advocates and the autism reviewer when reviewing the service that is supposed to be in place to assist people impacted on by autism. Last week, the Minister of Education outlined his plans for developing SEN support and services in schools. I note that the Minister of Health was present for some of the ministerial statement or for questions on it. In order to support children and their development on their education journey, it is vital that there be mental health and well-being services available to support them. I hope that information sharing between Departments and the local impact teams that intervene will be effective from a cross-departmental perspective and that that is monitored to ensure the best outcomes for our children and young people. Recently, Autism NI launched a public petition calling for a specialist autism mental health service. It received over 20,000 signatures. If that does not speak to the need, nothing will. Minister, if you have not done so already, I challenge you to look at the comments and not be reduced to tears at what families and other people have had to endure. In the previous mandate, the DUP introduced the Bill that became the Autism (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. I recall the large amount of work that was undertaken to ensure that our services reflected need. This is therefore an area in which we must play catch-up very quickly in order to save lives. I thank the proposer of the motion. The DUP will support the motion today.
687 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.95).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.95 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:51 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.