Gordon Brown urged to launch UK SEN/Autism Academies

(London, UK)Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been urged to launch SEN/Autism Academies. The call for a radical shift in SEN/Autism Schools came from Ivan Corea, head of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK. The Autism Awareness Campaign UK called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Children Ed Balls to allow SEN schools to be transformed into academies under the Government's program. Mr.Corea also called on the Government to set up state of the art specialist autism schools or academies - according to estimates there over 90,000 children in the UK who are on the

autism spectrum.

Mr. Corea was addressing an educational event at the International Teachers College in the University of East London complex in the Docklands. He shared the story of the Autism Awareness Campaign and the struggle of parents, carers and people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in accessing public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care in the UK. There were 250 teachers and students from around the world who were present at the event. Autism is a neuro-developental disorder - over 500,000 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum. Recently a leaked study from the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge University suggested that 1 in 58 children in the UK may have autism. If this number is confirmed it could point to a real increase in terms of numbers of children with autism. The increase could be as a result of better diagnosis and awareness of the condition.

The Autism Awareness Campaign UK has been appealing to Prime Minister Gordon Brown to back a national strategy for autism and a 10 year plan of action - this includes building specialism autism schools open to all across the UK.Ivan Corea has met Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown on the subject of autism. The Autism Report was presented to Prime Minister Blair in the House of Commons in April this year by the autism campaigner and Lee Scott MP. 'People are still finding that a postcode lottery to public services still exists for parents, carers and people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. We have urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take action to help this group, we need a long term strategy ' said Ivan Corea.

An estimated 60 million people around the world have autism.Many international delegates at the event organised by the International Teachers College and held at the University of East London shared their views on autism, they expressed concern that Governments in Africa and Asia were not doing enough to support children and adults with autism. Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged his support for the Millennium Development Goal on education for every child upto primary school level when he recently addressed a meeting at the United Nations in New York. The Autism Awareness Campaign UK has asked the Government to look into autism in Africa and Asia, now a serious education and health issue.