Autism Oxford closed after it served local people for more than 20 years
What is in the future of people with autism in Oxford?
Autism Oxford closed suddenly due to the lack of financial support and key investors after more than two decades to support the local family. Autism Oxford now is trying to contact their clients and look for alternative services and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust would support this issue too. The official website is now closed.
Since waiting for an NHS assessment can usually take around 17 months to receive a diagnosis, one of the NHS services, NHS Right to Choose allows parents in England to choose an alternative provider at no cost.
Autism Oxford was a provider commissioned by the NHS to assess whether someone has autism.
Furthermore, Oxfordshire Adult Autism Diagnostic Support Service(OAADSS) had closed because of a long waiting list. These two organisations that acted as a bridge helping to speed up the waiting list who have now closed. Parents who have children with autism and also those who need support lost one place again.
In the Facebook community, Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum, there were multiple negative comments from parents who have children with autism.
“Disgraceful.—3 years we have already waited.” Hayley said.
“This is so sad they privately diagnosed my sons.” Louisa commented.
Dr Rachael Falkner, a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University in Education/SEN/Inclusion, and also worked as a teacher and an SEND coordinator, gave Hybrid the background on autism.
What is the problem about the closure of Autism Oxford?
”I just think it’s making the situation very difficult, and certainly parents.“ she commented on the closure of Autism Oxford.
“They don’t know whether their child is getting the right help if they aren’t sure whether they have autism. And, they may feel their child’s school is being very supportive and helpful, but there’s always that niggle in the back of their minds of if they had a diagnosis, we’d be certain that they were getting the right provision.”
“And parents don’t always have a good understanding of what autism means for their child, and actually, one of the benefits of a diagnosis is that parents can then learn about it, and can support their child better.”
She also mentioned about the importance of understanding the condition.
“Understanding can often help them to then develop ways around things, and to think about things in a different way, or to be more accepting of themselves, I think, as well there is a reason for why they are as they are.”
What is autism?
Dr Falkner explained: “Autism is not a disease. It is considered a neurodiversity in that children are born with differences in their brain structure. It is diagnosed using the criteria which is set by in America (DSM-5) of different conditions.”
“In addition, autism is a spectrum, so some children will be intellectually impaired, whereas others will be less.”
“Also, with any kind of neurodiversity, It’s more likely than not that children will have more than one neurodiversity.”
“There are various labels for autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, which overlap. A lot of children with different kinds of neurodiversities, or special needs will have difficulty with working memory and processing, what we call executive function.”
She explained about the traits of people with autism and how such traits impact on their difficulties.
“People with autism have difficulties, mainly social communication and interaction, for instance, reading the social cues, nuances of language such as idioms, sarcasm.”
“That affects the way they build relationships, for example, they struggle to take turns in conversation, sometimes can be a bit dominant in conversation, because they don’t recognise when a listener needs to come in.”
“Furthermore, they will know a lot about something they’re really interested in, but other things that you might want them to learn in school they’re not interested in, and therefore they find that difficult.”
Why is the number of people who want to take an assessment increasing?
Dr. Falkner that there has been a problem with the long waiting list for assessment of autism recently.
She added: “First of all, there is a greater awareness of neurodiverse conditions such as autism and ADHD. Particularly during the post-pandemic, there were more children struggling with school anxiety because for example, there have been curriculum changes that might have made schools harder.”
“Secondly, the criteria have changed compared with early late 1990s to widen the number of people that would be included in a diagnosis. Lots of girls who in the past wouldn’t have been diagnosed because the criteria were for the sort of male presentation. The criteria for assessing girls has become much more specific now.”
“Thirdly, quite a lot of parents will realise that they’re autistic when their own children are diagnosed.”
“Furthermore, to get education and to get a plan for diagnosis, health and care assessments is considered helpful, and therefore their parents are pursuing a diagnosis.”