Dr. ?ine Roddy:

Parents of children. It may vary at the age level. Maybe an individualised payment would be very different at an adult level in the types of supports that would be sought. It is about how can you make a drastic improvement in services and supports and yet provide them for value for money. There is not a country where you can say the autistic services are fantastic and it is the role model. That does not exist. Some countries have stronger points than others. There are a lot of different issues if there is not clear guidance about having greater individualised plans for autistic people and what is an appropriate level of services and supports. There is a lot more need for guidance and guidelines at a higher level for different professionals working with autistic people, if they are doing an assessment of needs, in order to come up with the best plan.

At different times advocacy organisations or autistic people would say a key worker is crucial. There is a huge amount of stress from not having communication between the Department of Education - and even trying to navigate within that Department - and, say, the Department of Health and different health professionals. A key worker is often expressed as something that would be crucial to help provide information supports for families. I made the point in my opening statement about how we go about doing that. What level of contact and support do they need with key workers and the resources they need? There is a lot more planning needed to be able to come along and say this programme, even if it is a pilot programme for six months a year, can show that it is value for money or not. There is a huge lack of evidence to be able to come along and say what is the best approach to take. Obviously, everyone wants everything done immediately rather than waiting for research and evidence that are going to take time and I am very conscious of that. You want to improve practice immediately but you have to be thinking long term about what is actually the best approach in addressing needs.