The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People has called for significant improvements to be made to services for children and young people with Asperger Syndrome

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People has called for significant improvements to be made to services for children and young people with Asperger Syndrome.

In a report commissioned by NICCY and carried out by the University of Birmingham, children and young people with Asperger Syndrome, parents and professionals, told researchers their concerns. These included a lack of understanding from teachers and bullying and teasing from peers, as well as young people and their families not receiving enough support or information.

In essence, the findings demonstrated the existence of a postcode lottery and a lack of co-ordination of services between health, social services and education, resulting in lengthy waiting times and subsequent delays in diagnosis.

The findings were launched on Thursday 29th March 2007 at the NICCY offices in Belfast.

• You can view and download the “Try Living in Our World” – Young People with Asperger Syndrome: A Review of Needs and Services summary report below.
  
• You can also download the full reports and appendixes
• You can view the documents by clicking on the publications to the side