Debate contribution: Autism Services

Debate contribution by Mr Mark Durkan on 12 May 2026.

MLA

Mr Mark Durkan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

12 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Autism Services

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5528437

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Daniel, the cameras are facing over here now; you might want to come back.

This week, my office has again been inundated with the perennial calls from parents of children with autism and additional needs who have not secured a SEN placement at secondary school for September. Some are angry, some are exhausted, and many have simply become resigned to a system that continuously lets their children down. For far too many families, raising a child with autism in the North means one battle after another, including battles for education, assessments, health services, respite care, and the most basic support to which their children are entitled. That is not to say that some progress has not been made. Sunday marked 15 years since the passage of the Autism Act here, which was led by the SDLP's Dominic Bradley. We have seen subsequent legislation, strategies and action plans. Too often, however, that work has not been matched by adequate funding, urgency or political will. Families today are still fighting the same battles. Autistic people and their families are still not experiencing consistent, reliable or joined-up support. That is not simply my view; it is the clear finding of the Independent Autism Reviewer's first annual report. The reality facing many of those families is grim. Currently, 17,000 children here are waiting for an autism assessment. We have heard that 4,000 adults are waiting as well. We know that many children are waiting for three years and more for that assessment, during which time families are left in limbo, schools are struggling to cope and, most importantly, children are being left behind. Parents are exhausted by a system that forces them into those never-ending battles simply to secure support. The Independent Autism Reviewer laid bare what families, Autism NI and others have been saying for years: services are inconsistent, fragmented and incredibly difficult to navigate. Families are left trying to piece together support themselves because the system around them simply does not join up. That is not about a lack of policy; it is a failure in implementation. Nowhere is that failure felt more sharply than in the transition from childhood to adult services. Caleb's cause has highlighted very powerfully the struggle that is faced by young people who lose vital support services upon turning 19. Once again, Northern Ireland is falling behind provision that is available in other jurisdictions. Autistic young people and their families are not experiencing joined-up government. They are experiencing collective buck-passing. There is still no fully coordinated regional transition pathway in place, and respite services have been described as fragile. I will go so far as to say that, in many areas, they have been all but decimated. We know that there is a postcode lottery in support, depending on where a child lives. We know that there are major gaps in post-diagnostic support, and we know that demand for autism and ADHD services is lengthy and growing across every trust. The pressure on families is enormous. Children are missing school because adequate support is not there. Parents and carers are reducing their hours or are leaving employment altogether simply to cope. The system is broken, and, in turn, it is breaking the people who rely on it. There also remains far too little clarity around who is responsible for delivery, how progress is measured and whether these strategies are, in effect, improving the quality of life for people on the ground. Families do not need another strategy that ticks all the right boxes but fails in practice. They need timely assessments, proper respite provision, coordinated transition services and equal access to support, regardless of postcode. Most of all, autistic people and their families deserve dignity, consistency and a system that works with them and for them rather than against them. The Health Minister must now show real leadership, drive genuine cross-departmental accountability and ensure that the commitments already made through the autism legislation —

— and through the autism strategy are finally delivered.

666 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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