“Members of Autism Alliance UK would like to thank Autistica for its ongoing determination to put the lives of people with autism at the forefront of Government, Health and research agendas. Clearly the findings of this report are both shocking and tragic and so we welcome this important research and prospect of it opening up a wider, critically important discussion into how our country can best serve the autism community. Further research is now required to establish the true scale of this issue in the UK, although we believe this research data to be highly credible.

The prospect of losing a child at any age is inconceivable for any parent but for tens of thousands of people reading the findings of this report today the stark reality of the challenges facing their children, young or old, will be all too poignant. However, these families should not feel they are without hope. The members of the Autism Alliance UK and many other grassroots organisations helping people with autism are committed to delivering the best care, campaigning for solutions and raising awareness of this condition which affects at least one in every hundred people.

As an alliance we will now strive to ensure that all those caring for and supporting adults and children with autism will review these findings in a bid to deliver the best possible long term health outcomes for those our organisations exist to serve. This report and the headlines it will generate will only seek to make us all the more determined to keep doing all we can for people affected by autism.”