Early Identification of Autism

Early Identification of Autism

Area Covered - Wrexham Local Authority

Client Group Covered - Pre-school children

What is Autism?

The early identication of autism project aims to improve the service to parents/carers and professionals who are concerned that a child in their care may have autism.

Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears in the first three years of life. Children with autistic spectrum disorders have problems in three areas. These are difficulties in:-

• Social interaction

• Communication

• Play/imagination

Assessment

A small Sure Start grant has supported the development of a clinical assessment team made up of professionals from health and education. Referrals are routed through the Wrexham Child Health Centre and are frequently, but not exvclusively, made by paediatricians and health visitors. If, after, initial discussion it is felt that autism may be the cause of the difficulties then the child and parents/carers will be offered an appointment to attend for assessment. A leaflet describing the assessment procedure is available. Theassessment is based at the Wrexham Child Health Centre but the child will also be seen in his/her normal surroundings, which is usually home, but maybe a playgroup or other familiar setting. Following assessment parents/carers are given detailed feedback of the results and given an opportunity to ask questions. If appropriate parents are also given more information about the condition and sources of local support.

Evaluation

In addition to the assessment team there is also an evaluation project running over 2001-2002. A number of parents have been contacted and asked if they would be willing to answer a series of questions about their experiences. Some of these parents will have been through the Wrexham assessment process and some will have experienced getting a diagnosis at an earlier time before the current team was in place. The purpose of the evaluation is to find out whether the new service is an improvement and also, importantly, to provide us with information from service users about how it can be further improved. Armed with this information we hope to make any necessary changes to the service in the next phase of the project.