All children suspected of having an autism spectrum disorder should have access to a multi-agency assessment and be provided with a key worker, according to new national guidelines.
The plan by the National Initiative for Autism: Screening and Assessment core working group recommends that a key worker is appointed to a child as soon as ASD is suspected, and that a family care plan identifying general and specific ASD interventions for the child and family be drawn up within six weeks of the initial multi-agency assessment.
The guidelines also urge all local areas to establish a local ASD co-ordinating group to review existing services and identify training and resource needs within the next 18 months in order to provide comphrensive intervention services. Every local area should have an ASD-trained teacher to consult and set up ASD specific individual educational plans.
Welcoming the plan, David Potter, head of policy at the National Autistic Society, said: “All the available evidence suggests that the best results for children with ASD come from early interventions that address the range of difficulties these children experience.”
'National Autism Plan for Children' is available from www.nas.org.uk/profess.niasa.html
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