“Not enough is known about the prevalence of autism and most NHS bodies and local authorities have little idea of the numbers of people with autism in their area.  As a consequence, the needs of autistic people and their loved ones are rarely taken into account and these families are falling through the gaps in service provision.  

“This needs to change.  Those providing health and social care services need a much better understanding of autism so that they can provide effective and joined-up support to autistic people and their families. 

“This would make financial sense as well as being more compassionate than the present approach, since only 15 per cent of adults with autism are in full-time employment.  There are hundreds of thousands of adults with autism whose talents and potential contribution are currently being wasted.  It is wrong to write off people in this way”.

Mr Bacon was speaking as the Commons public accounts committee published its report into the support given to adults with autism.   The report finds that local organisations do not currently have sufficient awareness of the number and needs of people with autism in their area, limiting their ability to plan effectively to provide services to this group. The transition of people with autism from children’s to adult services is often poorly managed and requires more effective leadership and relationships between services.

The traditional configuration of health and social care services has meant that adults with high-functioning autism may fail to access appropriate support, potentially only doing so if they develop more serious problems later. These problems can be exacerbated by poor knowledge of autism amongst health and social care staff assessing the needs of people with autism and their carers.