Dr. Mary Doherty:

That is the real difficulty. There is a big debate in the UK on whether training should be mandatory. Mandatory training has just been brought in for all health and social care practitioners. It is very difficult for GPs because the demands on their time are such that mandatory training is a box-ticking exercise and a chore. As a healthcare practitioner, if I am honest, I know this is the case. We will get much better buy-in by making it optional and engaging people who have a particular interest. That is my personal view. Let us face it, most of us who have an interest in autism have an interest for a particular personal reason. It is the same in healthcare. So many practitioners involved in autism services are either autistic or have autistic family members. There is research to show that autistic children are up to six times more likely to have parents in medicine. Engaging people who want to engage and having that engagement then snowball would be my personal preference.