The Need

The pressure faced by parents and carers of children with autism as they approach adulthood is extreme.

Autism places immense stress on both the person with autism and their family. Many individuals with autism have difficulties with social interaction and have poor language ability. Inadequate understanding within our society of autism as a condition results in many sufferers becoming isolated often leading to adverse, prejudicial reactions.

Insufficient provision of appropriate care facilities means many parents face no choice other than to become permanent home carers. The impact on the lives and relationships of relatives and the wellbeing of the individual sufferer is huge.

Current residential care facilities for adults with all forms of mental health problems and learning disabilities accommodate around 50,000 people in the UK – when over 80,000 places are actually needed.

And yet, rates of autism diagnosis are climbing sharply. The autism ‘boom’ will soon bring the pressure to a crisis point unless more appropriate facilities are provided.

This is the need that The Autism Trust has been created to address.