Lee Scott MP: Autistic children need the right education provision

Lee Scott is MP for Ilford North.

Estimates of the proportion of people with autistic spectrum disorders total 587,900 and of these 133,500 are under 18 years of age. In the last few years numbers have risen in my own constituency of Ilford North. According to UK researchers, autism may affect up to one in 100 children. Autism impairs social interaction, communication and imagination and this spectrum also covers Asperger’s Syndrome.

I got involved with autism issue because constituents who have a son with ASD approached me for help. Campaigners are urging the DfES to address the failure of some secondary schools in coming up with educational strategies in dealing with autistic students; they are concerned about bullying of autistic children and the lack of recreational activities and poor further & higher education. On the health front children with autism desperately need osteopathy on the NHS and parents are calling for answers as to what causes autism.