Dr. Pat Matthews:

We need it. The gathering of that information must begin immediately if we are to have any success. I have pretty much no faith in strategies and plans unless there is a commitment to implement them correctly. It has to be done well, and there has to be continuity. My problem with Governments is that they come and go, so continuity must be built in somehow. They must pass on the baton. That must be there. Without that, there will be a stopgap all the time and brief plans will just sit on the shelf.

I was very pleased with the task force report, which was probably one of the most comprehensive reports done on autism, but it is lying on a shelf somewhere. There are so many recommendations in it that are still as valid today as they were ten years ago. I just wish people would take it down and dust it off, because it is still as valid now as when it was compiled. Had we put the recommendations in place, we would not be sitting here today. We would have an excellent service for our people, and that is what we are all striving for. It starts with the data collection because we need to know where we are going and how long it will take us. We need to give hope to families, to parents and to people who have two or three children with autism or who are on the spectrum. There is very little assistance for them.