Charity says exclusion of autistic people from Camhs audit is 'discriminatory'

James Cox

It is unacceptable that autistic people and their families will be excluded from a Child Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) audit of its services, according to Ireland's national autism charity AsIAm.

AsIAm said it is deeply concerned by the decision.

They have hit out at Camhs, and called for Mental Health Minister Mary Butler to sanction the inclusion of autistic people.

AsIAm said the exclusion of a number of autistic people is "regressive".

AsIAm eputy CEO Fiona Ferris said: "Families across the country have been deeply concerned about recent developments in Camhs. Autistic people and their families have particularly negative experiences interacting with the Child Adolescent Mental Health Services, owing to a lack of clear pathways to mental health supports which can be dangerous. It is therefore deeply concerning Autistic people won’t get the same level of assurance during this audit as others would."

She added: "Prima facie this approach and direction by Camhs is discriminatory and inequitable. If Autism is a primary diagnosis which there is no medication for, and such a person has been prescribed medication by a psychiatrist the only team who could be responsible is Camhs, as disability teams do not have psychiatrist on staff."

AsIAm is calling on Minister Butler to "urgently sanction the inclusion of all autistic people within this Camhs review, to ensure the future delivery of mental health services in Ireland is equitable across the board, irrespective of diagnosis".