§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will make a statement about the provision made by each local education authority for children with autism; and what steps he is taking to ensure that children with such difficulties are identified and helped appropriately;
(2) what information he has on the extent of under-identification of children with autism;
(3) how many children have been diagnosed as having autism problems in each local education authority area; how many have had statements in each of the past five years; and what estimate he has made of the number of children with autism problems who have not been identified and provided for appropriately;
(4) how many children have been diagnosed as having autism problems required special educational support in each local education authority area in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. ForthThe information requested is not collected centrally. Under the Education Acts 1981 and 1993 it is the responsibility of schools and LEAs to identify, assess and make provision for children with special educational needs, including those with autism. The Secretary of State intends, subject to the approval of Parliament, to issue a code of practice which will give practical guidance to schools and local education authorities on the identification and assessment of all children with special educational needs.
The Department for Education and the Department of Health are currently sponsoring a research project by the University of Nottingham into the education and treatment of children with autism in England and Wales. The researchers, assuming a prevalence rate of six per 10,000, estimate that there are in the region of 7,800 children with autism in England and Wales. Of these, approximately 1,000 children attend schools or units which specialise in 839W teaching children with autism. We await the report of the second stage of the research project which aims to evaluate the main types of provision for young autistic children.