The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown has outlined the Government's proposals for autism. The Prime Minister was in touch with British autism campaigner Ivan Corea, father of Charin, a 13 year old boy with autism spectrum disorder. This was history in the making - it was the first time that the Prime Minister has written over his plans for autism.

Parents and carers Ivan and Charika Corea have been campaigning long and hard on autism since 2000 with the Autism Awareness Campaign UK. They initiated 2002 as Autism Awareness Year supported by 800 UK organisations. In 2008 they launched a new autism charity - the UK Autism Foundation. The charity has been campaigning specifically on behalf of families with autism who are below the poverty line. Over 200 MPs have signed three early day motions backing the UK Autism Foundation's call for help for the poor. The EDMs were sponsored by John Battle MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty, Rudi Vis MP and David Drew MP. They attracted all party support in the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown writing to Ivan Corea said:' We are determined that people with autism and their families get the support they need and deserve, and know that without it the condition can have a devastating impact.

We are improving the quality of services provided to adults with autism by:

-publishing good practice Commissioning Guidance for the NHS and local authorities in April;

-launching a consultation on a new national strategy for autism, with the final strategy to be published by the end of the year. The strategy has four main priorities: health, social inclusion (including employment), choice and control, and training…