Hansard

I am delighted again to be afforded the opportunity to raise awareness of autistic spectrum disorders in the chamber, even if it is slightly due to the hand of fate and the interference of our esteemed legal establishment. Nonetheless, as I look around the chamber, I see many faces from the many debates that have been held on the issue over the past two or three years and we must congratulate ourselves and the business managers on putting ASD regularly and firmly on the Parliament's agenda. That has gone a long way to increasing awareness and understanding of the condition throughout the country, which is marvellous.

I have stated many times that my knowledge of the condition has been gained by the sheer determination and continuous campaigning of parents, carers and professionals, some of whom are in the public gallery. I thank them and commend their efforts.

There is little point in my raking over old ground by citing statistics and explaining the condition to members. It will suffice to say that the number of those who are diagnosed is growing rapidly every day. That increase includes not only children but adults. We cannot afford to waste any more time in debating how to address the situation. The time has come for action.

I am an active campaigner for the rights of those on the spectrum and am the convener of the cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on autistic spectrum disorder. I stress the importance of implementing the recommendations of the Public Health Institute of Scotland's needs assessment report. Many members have received notes of concern—as I have—from many organisations as to the scope of the consultation process that led to the report. We must take those concerns on board, but the report is a basis for the best way forward, if only because it is at least a step in the right direction. I am sure that the positive feedback of carers, sufferers and organisations can add to and strengthen the report's recommendations as they are implemented.

I draw attention to some of the report's recommendations. First, it recommends early identification and appropriate early interventions. We in Scotland are well positioned to use means of early identification, new means of identification and new forms of diagnosis on a biomedical level. Much work in that area has been done in Scotland and it would be foolish of us not to take advantage of that work and our expertise and thereby allow a full life-term plan to be laid out for all sufferers.

Secondly, the range of services that are delivered must be seamlessly delivered and planned and developed in a multi-agency way. I have frequently talked about the necessity for a national strategy that is focused on the individual and that uses multi-agency methods and many members have agreed with me.

Thirdly, the report recommends the planned and sensitive management of the transition between childhood and adulthood, which must be carried out between agencies. At the moment, the transition period is the most difficult period for parents, carers and professionals but, most important, it is the most damaging period for sufferers. Continuity is the key to treatment of people with ASD. It is vital that there should be continuity of provision, teaching and treatment. The terrible break between school and adulthood is allowing people to fall into wrong areas of support.

Fourthly, all planning should be carried out with the person at the centre of the services to ensure that individual needs are assessed. The only thing that I will say about the condition itself is that it is different in each sufferer and therefore treatment must be individualised for each sufferer. If we do not understand that simple and basic principle, we will fail. However, I genuinely believe that we do understand it. Finance is required. The simple fact is that our society will be denied the abilities of many people with ASD if the required finances are not made available.

What should our approach be? As I have said, we need joint policies, strategies and operational arrangements among agencies, skilled and experienced professionals and targeted funding. We have some skilled, trained and experienced professionals, but we do not have enough of them. This is a great opportunity for this country to become a centre of excellence in training. We can provide not only for our own sufferers but for sufferers throughout the UK and Europe, if not the world. As I said, the expertise exists in Scotland. Let us make something of that. It would be a positive contribution to the world and, more important, a positive contribution to our own economy.

In my opinion, targeted funding can be delivered through a central base—that is the national strategy that I keep talking about. However, we also need a centre of excellence that can set out the strategy and policies nationally and that can be used as a resource for training, information and research. That is not a new idea. As many members know, we have the potential for that centre of excellence in Struan House and in the Scottish Society for Autism's planned facility in Alloa. Again—I cannot restate it often enough—that would enable us to make our contribution to the world, not just to our own society.

I have stated in the chamber and in the cross-party group that the benefits for the autistic community of the creation of a centre of excellence would be huge. It could ensure that special skills and quality of life are nurtured and not ignored, as many of those needs are today.

The Scottish Society for Autism runs an excellent school and the National Autistic Society runs a complementary facility at Daldorch. Those are very special places, where children and adults can be cared for and educated and where, most important—this is why they work—the environment is geared towards continuity of provision, education and treatment.

Struan House is an exceptional centre, but it is far too small to cater for demand. That is why the SSA has set out its appeal for a new school and centre for training research and assessment. I understand that both Nicol Stephen and Hugh Henry have visited the school—I hope that Frank McAveety will do so too—and have seen the benefits that it provides for the Scottish autistic population and the international community.

I urge Frank McAveety in his reply—I accept that he is new to the brief—to commit the Government to the changes for which I have asked. We know what is happening out there. We need action. Further consultations could be useful, but only in terms of the action that is required. I ask the minister to implement at the earliest opportunity the recommendations from the PHIS needs assessment report. More important, I ask him to recognise the report's limitations, listen to carers and professionals and, most important, recognise the needs of each individual sufferer.