RENEWED ACTION ON AUTISM 'A WATERSHED'

3.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 5th Oct 2007

Friday 5th and Saturday 6th of October see the European Days of Autism taking place at the European Parliament and provide the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about all Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and the upcoming launch of the European Autism Alliance. These events should lead to greater research and cooperation opportunities across Europe, according to a local MEP.

Autism is characterised by three distinctive types of behaviour, the impact of which ranges from mild to disabling. The three types are repetitive behaviour or narrow, obsessive interests, social interaction difficulties and problems with verbal and nonverbal communication.

For Liz Lynne, Liberal Democrat MEP for the West Midlands region, Vice President of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee and Vice President of the All Party Disability Intergroup, this renewed action is in sharp contrast to the situation in previous years:

"The progress made over the last twenty years has been phenomenal. In the past many autistic people were institutionalised and kept away from society. Realisation that in some autistic people symptoms improve with age, and of course advances in treatment, have meant that children who seem severely affected go on to lead fulfilling lives.

"However, while recent surveys indicate an increase in incidence of ASDs over the past 30 years, existing data is too limited and varies too widely in time period and area to be able to conclude this.

"The EU lacks sufficient data on which of the various ASDs are increasing across Europe and how incidence is changing over long periods. The launch of European Autism Alliance on the 17th of October will provide an excellent forum for research and debate so we can learn more on ASDs in the future, and plug the information gap which currently exists.

"While the end of forced institutionalisation has been a major step forward, we need to learn more, for example on integration into mainstream schooling for autistic children, as there can be no blanket conclusion for all those with ASD symptoms. In this and many other areas, better understanding will be achieved by sharing best practice between Member States and coordination on Europe-wide research."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

It is estimated that 133,500 under-18s in the UK have an ASD.

It is estimated that there could be over 500,000 people in the UK with an ASD.

ASDs, as well as 'classical' autism, include Asperger's syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified). Recent research has shown that many people with autistic behaviour have related but distinct disorders.

Existing information suggests that age-specific prevalence rates for 'classical autism' in the EU could vary between 3.3 and 16.0 per 10 000. These rates could increase to between 30 and 63 per 10 000 once all forms of ASD are included. The validity and usefulness of a broad definition of autism is still being debated.

For more information on Autism and the European Days of Autism in Brussels on the 5th and 6th of October, please see: www.autismeurope.org

For figures comparing incidence of ASDs across certain towns regions of the world, please see: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_information/dissemination/diseases/autism_2.pdf