After not getting anywhere with my local authority I have written to my local MP and 6 local councillors to ask them to clarify the Autism Act 2009. Here is the letter
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Dear Mr. Hammond,
I would like make a complaint about Merton Local Authority who in my opinion are breaking the law.
I have an Autism Spectrum Disorder and was diagnosed last year after many years of wrong diagnoses. After my diagnosis I was relieved and assumed that after this diagnosis I could finally get the right help in order to make my life easier and give me the breathing space and living environment to get my life back together and allow me to put something back into society, however since then I have done nothing but come up against brick walls.
My main issue presently is that I also suffer from severe hyperacusis and am ultra sensitive to low frequency sound and I am in constant discomfort especially during the evening when I want to sleep. I can bear sound outdoors to a degree but indoors it vibrates more (I have tried white noise therapy and wearing ear defenders but they don't work). I applied to Merton Council for housing stating that I have ASD and severe hyperacusis but was told these are not of significance, this is quite a blow for me to hear that because they simply do not understand the nature of any of these conditions.
I have read that under the Autism Act 2009 local authorities must make provisions to meet the needs of adults with Autism Spectum conditions and that every local authority should ensure that there is a named joint commissioner or senior manager with responsibility for commissioning of services for adults with autism.
I have contacted Merton Council several times but am always pushed to the mental health or learning disability team (this is the reason the law was passed to stop people with ASD being pushed into these areas). I have also tried to find this 'named' joint commissioner or senior manager, I have been pushed from one department to another and nobody can offer a name of this person or even clarify if this person even exists. Three times I have been told that someone will call me back with details of this person but nobody has done so.
If the Autism Act states that this person should exist by law then surely this means Merton Council is breaking the law. I need to talk to someone in the local council who understands my condition/s not a mental health or learning disability team that do not. In fact when I talked to them they have no idea at all.
Can you as Wimbledon MP - which falls under the Merton Council jurisdiction clarify this law for me and confirm or deny if I do have the right by law to have my needs met by the local authority and that by law a named joint commissioner or senior manager with responsibility for commissioning of services for adults with autism should be present at Merton Council ?
Thank You
Paul ......
