Count me in

The Government, local authorities and primary care trusts do not know how many adults with autism there are in England. Without this information they are unable to plan and deliver the services that are needed.

67% of local authorities and 77% of primary care trusts know how many adults with autism there are in their area.

86% of local authorities say that if they had more information about adults with autism in their area it would help with long-term planning.

The Government should:

  • fund a prevalence study into the number of adults with autism in the UK.


Local authorities and primary care trusts should:

  • have systems in place to accurately record the number of adults with autism in their area
  • include the needs of adults with autism in commissioning strategies and joint strategic needs assessments.

Lead the way

We need national leadership from the Government to ensure that policies will meet the needs of adults with autism.

98% of local authorities and 100% of primary care trusts believe that the Government could provide them with more assistance to support adults with autism.

The Government should:

  • expand capacities, expertise and leadership on autism in the Department of Health
  • ensure that there is regional support to help local authorities and primary care trusts implement good practice
  • issue statutory guidance to local authorities that addresses the barriers that prevent adults with autism from accessing services, and produce good practice commissioning guidance for local authorities.


The Health Select Commitee should:

  • hold an enquiry into autism.

Meet my needs

There is a clear gap between the type of support adults with autism want and the services people receive. Adults with autism require person-centred support and people providing services should first be trained in autism.

82% of parents and carers say that their son or daughter needs some level of daily support to live independently.

The top three supports that parents and carers believe that their son or daughter would most benefit from are social skills training (60%), social groups (56%) and befriending (49%).

Only 27% of adults with autism currently have a person-centred plan or care plan.

Local authorities should:

  • fund social support services, including befriending, social programmes, social skills and life skills training for adults with autism
  • ensure that social care workers who come into regular contact with adults with autism are trained in autism.

Understand my needs

Many adults with autism are not able to access the services and support that they need. There is a lack of understanding amongst staff who carry out community care needs assessments, and services are structured in a way that often excludes people with autism.

Over three quarters of local authorities do not have an autism training strategy at all.

Only 42% of adults with autism have had an assessment of needs from their local authority since they became and adult.

Over 60% of adults with Aperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism say that they have experienced problems in trying to receive support from their local authority and/or health service. Of these 52% were told that they do not fit easily into mental health or learning disability services.

45% of local authorities say that they do not have a process in place to manage how people with autism who do not fulfil the criteria of the learning disablilty team or mental health team receive support.

Local authorities should:

  • ensure that staff who carry out care needs assessments are fully trained in autism
  • establish a clear route to enable adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism to access assessment and services
  • implement the Director of Adult Social Services' guidance and appoint a named individual or team with responsibility for autism spectrum disorders.


Primary care trusts should:

  • ensure that staff who carry out healthcare assessments are trained in autism.