Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru	National Assembly for Wales
Bil Awtistiaeth (Cymru) drafft	Draft Autism (Wales) Bill
Arolwg Ar-lein DAB5	Online Survey DAB5
Ymateb gan Cyfrannog ar-lein 5	Evidence from Online Participant 5

Please refer to questions in the Online Survey.

Question	Answer
01	Not sure It depends, is it intended to encompass all forms of neurodiversity? If so then having a rigid operational definition for autism spectrum conditions will impede that. Not being sufficiently specific will potentially dampen its effectiveness. There are large qualitative differences across different neurodiverse conditions but the same is true within the autism spectrum. It’s hard to say. Even clinicians and diagnostic manuals don’t always agree on criteria.
02	Yes The WHO is free from some of the politics that plague the DSM.
03	Yes Although the NHS is famously under resourced. I’m a high functioning autistic person and I’ve had shocking interactions with GPS and the like here who cannot believe I’m autistic. It basically means I don’t go to the dr when I need to. If their own organisation had responsibilities for the bill maybe that would improve their attitude.
04	Yes
05	Nothing about us without us - this phrase must have come up by now.
09	Yes At least, if you’ve come to the attention of a medical professional who has diagnosed you then this has happened because something has not gone right. The assessment is essential, the people I was seen by provided separate reports for employment and medical. In my case the diagnosis and assessment were the same (nearly 5 hour) appointment at the Lorna wing centre. Not every autistic person can do that though.
10	Yes But it shouldn’t specify how they are to be used. Autistic people can be easily overwhelmed by new people, I saw one member of the clinical team primarily and she consulted with the others as she needed to. There was a team behind it but I wasn’t subjected to a panel interview.
11	Possibly someone with speciality in learning disabilities if none of the others have that.
12	GPs do not understand the differences in gender presentation. Specific attention needs to be paid to high functioning women and girls as they mask, even through assessment they can mask. There is also a generation (mine) for whom high functioning autism was not diagnosable when we were primary school aged, we may be misdiagnosed with a variety of mood and personality disorders. I’m 31, it was the mid-90s when male-presenting Aspergers or hfa was recognised, we still aren’t there with girls.
13	Yes
14	Educational attainment, any previous mis-diagnoses
15	Not sure
16	Not sure
17	It should happen all the time.
18	I am an autistic person who has been through a very difficult experience of workplace sexual harassment, I’m currently struggling to find the right mental health support - anything that streamlines that information of who, publicly or privately I could go to would be helpful.