Member's statement: Autism Awareness Month
Member's statement by Mr Cathal Boylan on .
- MLA
- Mr Cathal Boylan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 14 April 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Autism Awareness Month
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5481980
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I also welcome Julie, wish her well in her role as a Foyle MLA, and extend my best wishes to Gary. I take this opportunity to highlight Autism Awareness Month. This year, Autism NI is using this month to celebrate the spectrum and colour and to highlight unique differences. This month presents an opportunity to remind ourselves that we still have much work to do to better support children, young people and adults who live with autism, particularly when it comes to timely assessment and appropriate support, including post-19 provision. Just before recess, the all-party group (APG) on autism met the Independent Autism Reviewer. First, I thank Ema Cubitt for her time and the information that she was able to provide us with. It was clear from the reviewer's evidence that good progress has been made on her work. However, it has been disappointing that, in my opinion, the Department of Health was not prepared for the establishment of the reviewer's office, even though it should have been aware of what was in the legislation. Had the Department been in a better state of readiness, the reviewer could have got down to work before now. Instead, she has had to focus on establishing her office while exercising the statutory functions that she is responsible for. I welcome the reviewer's comments that she believes that there were barriers to progress within the Department of Health and across other Departments. Those barriers are now being addressed, which will lead to better cooperation. I agree with the reviewer, and what needs to be recognised across all Departments is that the changes needed to better support people with autism do not always cost a huge amount of money. However, the changes require a willingness to adapt. Take, for instance, the focus that the APG has had on the development of a special autism mental health service. That has not progressed in the way that we would like to see. As a result, people with autism continue to experience difficulties in accessing mental health services. That is not acceptable. From our recent meeting, the overriding message is clear: the autism strategy needs to be given the priority that it deserves across all Departments, arm's-length bodies and other organisations. The delivery plan must see measurable targets that can be monitored and delivered to ensure that people with autism see impact on the services that they access. I look forward to reading the reviewer's first annual report in the near future. I also look forward to supporting her in her work alongside the rest of the all-party group as we continue to demand improvements for people with autism.
441 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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