Andy Burnham entering No. 10 could mean the turning of the tide against the vilification of autistic people and delivering the support they need.

When Andy Burnham was the Secretary of State for Health in 2009, he helped deliver the Autism Act, a landmark law that expanded access to autism assessments and services to autistic people who had previously been ignored. Burnham could not have predicted that 16 years later, he’d become Prime Minister while autistic people experience profound inequality and political leaders spread misinformation about autism with very real consequences.

The statistics are shocking:

• Autistic people die on average between six and 15 years earlier than the general population
• Two-thirds (66%) of autistic adults experience suicidal ideation – nine times higher than the general population.
• Only three in ten autistic adults are in work, amongst the lowest of any disability.
• Only a quarter of autistic students say they feel happy at school.
• The number of autistic people without a learning disability detained in mental health hospitals has increased by 171% since 2015. 

Yet, instead of focusing on these failures, some politicians have been making false claims about autism and admonishing people for seeking to understand and meet their own needs through a diagnosis. 

The public disagrees with those politicians. New research from the National Autistic Society shows almost eight in ten (77%) people think there needs to be more understanding about autism and almost two-thirds (65%) think there needs to be tougher measures for those spreading misinformation about autism. We are asking politicians to challenge false claims about autism, not amplify them.

Burnham’s record suggests a different approach. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he launched the first and second Greater Manchester Autism strategies. He championed working closely with people with lived experience and involving them in strategies, ”Doing with, not to”. His focus on devolution and giving more power and responsibility locally should bring about a strong autism strategy, with updated statutory guidance to enable councils and NHS Integrated Care Boards to adapt and be held accountable, to ensure inequalities faced by autistic people are tackled.

But a Care and Quality Commission report published the week before Burnham enters office found that in several areas: “local authorities accepted extended waits or limited provision for autistic people as inevitable, rather than looking at the equality needs of this group and whether they could be addressed through commissioning.” How is this acceptable? 

Burnham’s willingness to act and show up for autistic people is needed now more than ever. 

There have been 16 years of lost opportunities. A House of Lords Committee recently concluded the Autism Act “was a critical step forward in the recognition of autistic people” but “successive governments have failed to deliver real change”. They have failed to provide adequate funding or to put in place proper accountability. There has been no implementation plan or funding beyond the first year of the 2021 strategy. Updated statutory guidance has never been published – the out-of-date 2015 version doesn’t even include children and young people. 

The Starmer Government has failed to even start updating the current strategy, despite its expiration date falling this month. 

In the first few months of Burnham’s Premiership, an independent review into mental health, autism, and ADHD will be published. The report is primarily designed to make recommendations on how the NHS can better support people with these conditions. But the headlines that followed its announcement suggested an alternative purpose – a justification for benefit cuts. The interim report stressed there was a huge amount of unmet need, but media reporting implied people were getting diagnoses they didn't need. Its eventual publication will provide the Government with a key opportunity to finally deliver on what was promised, to improve and simplify the way autistic people get help and push on with an ambitious autism strategy focused on addressing the devastating and successive failures from government.

The rise in autism diagnoses is due to greater awareness, better understanding and improved diagnostic practice, meaning more autistic people are finally being recognised. The core issue is that successive Governments have failed to plan or respond to this.

Burnham understands this better than most. Having helped create the Autism Act, he knows that increasing access to diagnosis was always going to identify more autistic people. The task now is not to blame them, but to ensure support keeps pace.

When false claims about autism are aired, there are dangerous consequences. False claims fuel stigma, undermine trust in science and leave autistic people and their families feeling judged and isolated. 

The day after Trump falsely claimed taking paracetamol in pregnancy caused autism, one mum shared with us: "Standing with my autistic son this morning waiting for his school bus, I feel I’m being judged by everyone. My mind is totally over-exaggerating everything. I feel to blame. This is how many of us mums will feel.”

Here in the UK, half (55%) of autistic people say they have avoided going out because they are worried about how people will treat them. And one in four autistic people say that when they tell a member of the public they are autistic, they usually get a negative reaction.

The need for action is clear and, given Burnham’s proven knowledge about and commitment to autism, autistic people need him to fight their corner now more than ever. Autistic people need a strong autism strategy that holds councils and the NHS to account and tackles the inequalities they face. The question for the new Prime Minister is whether his government will finally deliver the change autistic people were promised sixteen years ago.