Debate contribution: Autism Mental Health Services
Debate contribution by Mr Maolíosa McHugh on .
- MLA
- Mr Maolíosa McHugh
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Autism Mental Health Services
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4744948
Read the official Assembly record
Text
As an MLA for West Tyrone and a member of the APG on autism, I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate in the hope that it will go some way to improving services for those young and not-so-young people with autism and their families who, day and daily, struggle to cope with the many issues with autism. I am sure that there is not an MLA in the House who is not constantly dealing with issues that arise for their constituents, whether it is about accessing services or experiencing the sheer lack of services for those who live with autism and their families. Autism is not a mental health problem in itself. Yet, statistics show that those with autism are more likely to suffer from mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, self-harm and even those that lead to suicide. Adults with autism are nine times more likely to die by suicide and autistic children are 20 times more likely to self-harm than the general population. Employment, or the lack of it, is also a major issue for those with autism. Those stats cry out for the development of a specialist autism mental health service where well-equipped specialists and trained professionals support the autism community. I reiterate that that service should be accessible throughout the North of Ireland and not just in major cities or the like. Access to mental health services is crucial, but it also requires mental health professionals to be trained in autism to ensure the best outcomes for those who contact the service in the first place. Not only is the development of autism mental health services necessary to ensure better outcomes for those living with autism but it is a right for those autistic people to receive the proper mental health support that is tailored to the needs of each of them, as and when it is needed.
Autism is for life. In the same way in which it is recognised that those who live with autism see the world differently, it is time for those responsible for the delivery of services to look outside the box and begin to meet the ever-increasing demand for proper autism mental health services. At this point, it would be remiss of me not to mention those in the voluntary and community sector who make a major contribution to people with autism and their families. In particular, I think of a town in my area — I do not live there, but it is next to where I live — Strabane, where you have the Koram Centre and the likes of Autism NI delivering counselling services and facilitating family support groups. I thank them for their contribution. However, that, in no way, should deflect us from meeting the demand for a specialist autism mental health service of well-trained professionals who are specifically trained to deal with autism. I ask the Minister to make it one of his highest priorities to provide that specialist mental health service.
499 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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