A Plymouth woman who battled with the impact of autism for much of her life has highlighted the range of ‘life changing’ services available for people with autism in the city.
Angela W said:
“It was 10 years ago that I was becoming more and more paranoid that something was different about me, but I could not find out what.
“The Autism Act being passed in December 2009 led to the doors being opened to my diagnosis of autism, which I received a few months later. It has been challenging, but such a relief to know what the ‘it’ in my life was.”
Angela pointed out that since 2009 many valuable services have been launched in Plymouth for people with a diagnosis of autism.
The Plymouth Autism Spectrum Service (P.A.S.S.) has been developed to provide a dedicated and specialist service for adults with autism, their families, health and social care services and to collaborate with community organisations within Plymouth.
The aim is to promote and provide pro-active strategies to support adults with autism to live their lives as they want and to prevent the number of crises that they may experience. It is not a diagnostic assessment service.
For more information visit www.livewellsouthwest.co.uk/plymouth-autism-spectrum-service
The aDAPt service advises and enables autistic people to request Reasonable Adjustments if required when accessing Derriford Hospital with the aim of reaching the same outcome of care as other patients.
Derriford Autism Service does not offer a diagnostic service but can provide signposting and information on how to request a formal assessment if needed.
An alert can be added to hospital systems which means the Autism Service will be notified when people are admitted to hospital and can then ensure that the appropriate advice and guidance is shared with teams.
Find out more on their website www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/autism-service
NAS Plymouth Adult Asperger’s Branch (NAS PAAB) is run by volunteers and offers support to adults with Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism.
For more information go to www.nasplymouthadultaspergersbranch.webeden.co.uk
NAS Parent group A new free monthly support group, run for parents, by parents for parents of children with autism. Email: plymouthparentsupport@nas.org.uk
