Dr. Amir Niazi:

The Senator is right about autism not being a mental health diagnosis. Anyone who has autism can have mental health issues, but autism is about people's interaction and thinking. It is a different diagnosis. Compared with the general population, though, the prevalence of mental health issues is greater among adults with autism.

If I am a parent of a six-year-old or seven-year-old and there is a possibility that he or she might have autism, the first thing I do is bring my child to a GP. We currently have a recruitment challenge in all parts of the health services, not only mental health services. If the GP knows that there is a waiting list of one or two years in primary care psychology, he or she will make a referral to CAMHS while also making a referral to the disability services because, as a parent, I want something to be done now. When a referral reaches CAMHS, a multidisciplinary team examines the issue and determines whether there is anything CAMHS can do or whether it has more to do with the child’s autism, which is managed by a team in primary care disability services. This is where the challenge lies. People say that mental health services have refused or rejected a referral-----