NAS, UK – are campaigning with local people from Nottingham to save the Adults with Asperger’s Team.
The NAS report that the team have supported at least 10 per cent of the adult population living with Asperger syndrome in the county.
They state on their website:
‘Nottinghamshire County Council is considering disbanding the team as part of its plans to make £154 million of savings. Their work would be absorbed into a smaller team of mental health staff. The council is running a consultation on proposed cuts until 17 January.’
Service users are working with the NAS and Autistic Nottingham to try and save the service that advise and support Autistic people in the county.
Marilyn, 59, who is full time carer for her Son Chris, 29 who has Asperger’s Syndrome accesses the service, she is reported as saying:
“When Chris was first diagnosed in 2008, I felt completely isolated. I had so many questions and so much to do but didn’t know where to turn for information and support.”
She continues:
“Without the team I simply wouldn’t have been able to cope, our family would have been lost.”
Tom Purser who is the Senior Policy and Participation Officer for Central England at The National Autistic Society, said that the Adults with Asperger’s Team is pioneering and that it was the first social care specific Asperger team in the UK.
The NAS campaign page can be found here
The original article on the NAS website can be read here