barnet mental health trust no longer works with people with ASD

...maybe the name should be changed to "Enforce for Autism".

I agree that the Government isn't enforcing the Autism Act or the Autism Strategy.

It has adopted a common cop out mechanism, pass the task on to local authorities, most of which are cash strapped and laying off staff, knowing full well they won't be able to implement it.

It just might help if NAS tried to get a clearer message across what sorts of help people on the spectrum need.

Cos just banging on about Push for Action is meaningless without adequate accurate information to back it up!

Ah, at last....someone who can define "communication deficits"

Let me try you with the examples of socialisation provided by NAS in their employer information sheets under what is autism?

"may find it difficult to form or sustain conversation" and "may struggle with certain situations and with making conversation"

But everyone knows what that is....its SHY!

Would employers really comprehend the real implications for people on the spectrum? No, they just think we need a little coaxing out of our shells!

The wording NAS uses fails to convey the fact that people on the spectrum not only have poor eye contact, but fail to observe non-verbal communication properly, AND fail to generate the appropriate non-verbal clues.

It fails to convey that they might have real difficulty hearing all that's been said to them.

It fails to convey that in a room with lots of people talking at the same time that people on the spectrum can get stressed and have difficulty coping.

It fails to convey that people on the spectrum might be perceived as rude or insensitive because they cannot gauge the emotions others are conveying and cannot convey the expected social responses

etc...etc.

But all NAS is telling employers is we might be a bit shy...and let's face it everyone's had times when they've been a bit shy....its nothing to make a fuss about....ist it? 

@Longman, difficulties with colleagues would come under communication deficits.  I agree that sensory issues should be written into the ICD-11.  I think the triad is OK as a broad description under which to encompass the diagnostic criteria but as you say the triad is what we have deficits in, we need the how it affects our lives.  Having said that, anyone seeking help (like OP) should not be turned away whether it's autism or a co-morbid mental health issue.

The trouble as I see it, is that the government is not policing the Autism Strategy, as I have said elsewhere they are not holding authorities to account.  Within the NHS, individual clinicians also hold too much power and decide whether they will comply or not.  Anyone in the department will then cow-tow to their decision and refuse to help (this has happened to me personally).  There is a passing the buck attitude in the NHS, a lack of accountability and a seeming holding clinicians in a God-like awe that allows them way too much power.

I don't care how many letters they have after their name, I don't care how long they have been in post, and I don't care how "expert" they claim to be.  They are still employees and they are still accountable and they damned well still have to abide by the rules and the law!

When is anyone going to ensure they do!!!

Was away on holiday last week but noticed my name has cropped up above. I can only advise NAS that as long as autism is ill-defined on their website GPs and specialists can "run rings round" people looking for help, because there just aren't proper definitions out there.

Particularly, as I keep ranting to NAS about, to no avail, the Triad of Impairments should not be used as an all sizes summation of what people have to live with when they are on the spectrum.

Things that aren't in the triad then become secondaries or semi-related. So if you get sensory overload, or you have difficulties interacting with work colleagues, or suffer distress, that can all be put down as something different from autism. Or as in this case it can be loosely bagged in with - that's just autism - nothing to do with us.

It is too late NAS having this Push for Action campaign because no-one understands what action NAS wants pushed. As NAS itself is pushing the "its just the Triad of Impairments with a few other knobs and whistles" - anyway.

So as I understand it - according to Barnet and Peterainbow's GP he's just got ASD, which they don't treat, which is just Alice in Wonderland. But if you leave the whole thing so ill-defined, of course this is going to happen.

Spuggy  - just to say we've seen your feedback and I've passed it onto our campaigns team. We'll be in touch. 

They are breaking the law.  All health care trusts (or at least areas) have to, according to the Autism Act and the Autism Strategy, offer an autism care pathway.  They are not allowed to just diagnose you and then ignore you.  Anyway, it's likely the issues you need support with are co-morbid mental health issues such as anxiety and depression which you have every right to have help from them for too.

Challenge them and quote the above, while you're at it, ask them for their opinion on the "Leading Rewarding and Fulfilling Lives" strategy.

Longman will probably have some input on this, perhaps mods could pop on and guide OP on how to deal with this.  Perhaps NAS could intervene?

OP, there is obviously NHS PALS to complain to but I am sure you can get this resolved before it gets to that.

We're not all work minded... ;)

Hi,

I really hope you see this. I am currently in a battle  over the same issue. I'm not willing to give in. Please, if at all possible, contact your local MP and ask them to raise the issue. I have done this already.

I'm a speaker on behalf of people with ASDs and have contacts I can raise the issue with further, but I need some support.

I'm not sure if there's any way I can contact you privately via this site, because the more people we have fighting this, the better the outcome will be.

Thanks.

Pete,

It is interesting you quote in your last post "to help me stay in work as i'm good at what i do...",,, under the ASD asperger traits,, work function can be everything because it familiar and an specialist environment , so people with Aspergers(cough, cough... me !) are work minded probably to an obsessive perfectist degree.

If you are suffering from anxiety and depression it could be due to the work area changing in some way which normally brings about ASD burnout, breakdown or washed out, normally with an added social pressure, aka the psychoboss.

Aspies need work, but the work needs to be constant and in a good environment.

Just some thoughts that may interest you.

thanks autismtwo for the help, sadly don't seem to get any help even when asked for, the maudsely were very good and recommended various things which were then ignored by my local trusts. sadly i have got into a confrontational situation i think, but thats the nature of the ASD beast sometimes isn't it. wish i'd realised earlier in my lifei was autistic as now it seems to late to have that knowledge and i wish the trusts/nhs actually put into place proper strategies as tey are required by law to do. i was talking to someone from the NAS/prospects about getting me back to my job, but seems to have stopped and to be honest what happened at the job was a mess. anyway will be seeing the GP next week and see what he says, bloody stupid that i'm not given support to help me stay in work as i'm good at what i do...

I know Peter what you mean, life with ASD is hard enough without external environmental issues. Just remember your GP is ALWAYS your initial point of care, so go see the doc with support if you need it and explain the situation, it just seems to me that you have hit a dead end, through no fault of your own. Don't fight for, ask for help.

" am currently off sick from work, due to the usual mixture of bullying/stress/depression and i now have nowhere to go, just drugs that don't work"..,

that is very common with ASD., the only thing that works is time and familar ground each day, with a support strategy if any problems arise, you should have a key person to speak too,,, be it your GP, NAS, Social worker instead of stressing yourself out, over issues that you have no control over.(unfortunately), all you can do is step to the side and start again in the morning. Forgive the past, helps me, move forward.

"FIND somewhere better  with assistance."

well it's all very easy to say that but there is no help from anywhere and no offers of assistance other than through the trusts

i agree that they weren't the best, but they did have the ability to forward/refer me on to those who did, which is what i eventually got them to do over an ASD assesment

btw the local trusts have a responsiblity to handle all of this and have strategies in place, now they are all doing NOTHING...

Barnet mental health trust

Maybe this is not the right service for you, aka mental health trust, not an autism specialism centre, these mental health centres are just full of ex-alcoholics, druggies and social psychopaths,, not a theraputic place for ASD. These trusts work on easy option containment numbers and targets, they are not real treatment centres anyway. I think you would be wasting your time there. You need somewhere, were you can identify with on a theraputic nature for ASD development, not on mental health containment government policies. You have landed lucky, that they do no longer work with ASD clients, because it is too much real work for them. FIND somewhere better  with assistance.

he was quite clear, the position they are taking is that these other co morbid symptoms need specialised help they say they cannot give and so that's that.

he will be sending me this in writing

btw i am aware of my rights, but to be frank i am beaten into submition and really don't have the will anymore, the last few years have taken their tole

i've already told someone from NAS about this who said he would talk to my psych/trust, but the psych said he had not been contacted

i have no faith in NAS either

to be frank if i did not have a family i would not be here anymore...

It is true that there is no treatment for ASD itself, but if you have depression and anxiety, the psych should be able to help you with those, as they are not ASD, they are separate conditions. I think you should ask the psych to put his explanation in writing. You are also entitled to ask your GP for a copy of the letter from the psych to the GP. Then if you want to make a complaint, you'll have evidence of what he said. The link I sent earlier should help you and your GP understand your rights.

If your area health authority say you need specialist treatment and they don't provide it, I think they ought to pay for you to get it from elsewhere. Do contact the NAS Helpline, because the NAS might not know yet what BMHT are doing. They'll probably be interested in the letter you say is being sent to all.

well it is what they have done, the psych couldn't have been clearer yesterday, he would not/could not make a repeat appointment to see me because i am ASD. he said i have to go back to my GP.

they are hiding behind saying that people on ASD need specialised help and that the BMHT does not supply that.

i am currently off sick from work, due to the usual mixture of bullying/stress/depression and i now have nowhere to go, just drugs that don't work

they have apparently sent out a letter to all, so i am baffled as to why NAS and others aren't challenging what seems to be blatent discrimination.

They are breaking the law if they do not provide you with an assessment or services for which you have been assessed as needing, because your diagnosis is ASD. If they put it in writing that this is the reason, they have committed disability discrimination. The Autism Strategy sets out what local authorities must do, under the Autism Act 2010. Here's the link to a useful page  on the NAS website, which sets out their responsibilities- I suggest you print it out and show it to your GP, then, if you are still denied, take it to the NAS Helpline and ask them to help you.