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Brookdale Care News
Asperger syndrome Community Care Supplement
Posted: 2008-04-11 | Author: Louise Barua
Adults with Asperger’s syndrome face a scarcity of services as they often don’t meet mental health or disability teams’ criteria. But a little support could go a long way, Autistic Spectrum Disorder is often described as a developmental disorder resulting in difficulties with social interaction and communication, as a result, Asperger syndrome is neither a learning disability nor a mental health problem.
This has led to adults with Asperger syndrome falling between the two services: learning disability teams refuse to become involved where someone’s IQ is too high – it needs to be below 69 to qualify for a service – while mental health teams turn these individuals away because they don’t fulfil their criteria either. Some people with Asperger syndrome will have an accompanying learning disability or mental health problem which may qualify them for a service, although this will generally be for the accompanying disability and not for the problems associated with ASD.
The National Autistic Society (NAS) believes a government-funded prevalence study is what’s needed. It says numbers of people with ASD – not just those receiving services – should be counted locally, and ASD training for staff who carry out care needs assessments is also required.
For more information please read the attached supplement with a 2 page article from 7th February edition of Community Care Magazine.
userfiles/file/Com%20Care%20Autism%20Supplement.pdf