The latest Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) Review has been published, after being temporarily withdrawn in December due to a technical issue with the data. 

The report highlights the significant health inequalities people with a learning disability and autistic people face.

Our response to the review:

Joey Nettleton Burrows, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the National Autistic Society, said: “Today’s republication of the LeDeR report will do little to reassure autistic people and their families that the Government is taking their lives seriously. 

“The Government, in a statement published with the report, said they are committed to reducing health inequalities and “understand the importance of timely and accurate information” to support this, yet they fail to recognise the serious mishandling of the original report, which was not only delayed by two years but then retracted in the weeks following its publication.

“The findings show that the largest cause of death for autistic people is suicide (31%). A relatively low number of reviews of autistic people are included in the report, so we are cautious about making conclusions. However, we know that without the right support, too many autistic people can develop mental health problems like anxiety or depression, ending in tragic situations. It is very disappointing that there are no national recommendations for driving improvement and increasing accountability within the report to prevent future deaths.

“The Government must demonstrate that they are truly committed to improving the lives of autistic people by learning from these findings and taking urgent action to improve LeDeR and creating the equal healthcare system that autistic people deserve.”