Over 70% of children with autism also have a mental health problem. It doesn’t have to be like this. Children with autism can have good mental health just as anyone else can, and the You Need To Know campaign aims to make this a reality.

The right support at the right time can stop mental health problems from developing in the first place. But where mental health problems do develop, the NHS needs to know how to help children with autism. And crucially, the new Government needs to know that this is an issue that can’t wait. 

The first thing we’re asking campaigners to do is to send an email to their MP asking them to support the You Need To Know campaign.

Once you’ve sent your email, there are a number of other things you can do to get more involved in the campaign.

  • Meet your MP in their constituency surgery
    MPs hold regular surgeries, when constituents can make appointments to meet with them. This is a great opportunity to ask them to support the campaign. You can download a guide here which gives you more information about how to do this and advice about how to prepare for the meeting. There is also a standard briefing on the campaign that you can take with you to give to your MP. And you may find it useful to read our FAQs about the campaign to help you answer any questions that your MP might have.
  • Invite your MP to come to one of your local group’s meetings or events
    This is a chance to tell them about the campaign, and also show them what your group do to support families affected by the issue. You can download a template letter here to help you do this.
  • Find out more about families' experiences of your local CAMHS
    If you’re a member of a local autism group, you might want to find out what the experiences of children with autism and their families are of local mental health services. We've produced a short survey which you can use to help you do this. To find out more, contact our campaigns team.
  • Contact local mental health professionals and commissioners
    If you're interested in talking to practitioners and decision-makers about the campaign, we've produced a guide for talking to mental health services as well as a guide for talking to mental health service commissioners in primary care trusts (PCTs) and local authorities. You may also find it useful to read our FAQs about the campaign to help you answer any questions that mental health services or commissioners might have.


Whatever you decide to do as part of the campaign, please do let us know how you get on. You can call our campaigns team on 020 7923 5799 or email campaign@nas.org.uk

Become a media talker

If you have personal experience of the issues raised in the campaign and you would be willing to speak to the media about this, then you might be able to become an NAS media talker. Talking to the media generally involves speaking to journalists and being identified by name and sometimes with a picture, so it is usually only suitable for people who don’t want to be anonymous and are keen to tell their story directly. 

If you think this is something you would be interested in doing, please let us know by contacting our PR and media team on 020 7903 3593 or email press@nas.org.uk  Please note that we may not be able to respond to everyone who contacts us individually.