People with autism need protection | Letters
We were shocked, as the family of a 26-year-old autistic son who has been in four residences since leaving school, to read of the abuse in a National Autistic Society care home (Somerset care home staff bullied autistic residents, review finds, 9 February). To think that this could occur within an NAS home is almost unimaginable. There are two clear problems in homes looking after adults with autism in England.
First, there is no system of compulsory registration of individual support workers/carers as exists in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This enables a public record to be kept of all support worker qualifications, as well as any concerns around their conduct or standard of work. Removal from the register means carers cannot be employed in that role. The English government currently refuses to introduce such a register.
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