People living with autism and Asperger’s syndrome in the Bradford district say they need more support.

People who are affected by the conditions have been telling the Bradford Local Involvement Network (LINk), what needs to be done to make their lives easier.

A meeting attended by more than 50 people was held at Victoria Hall, Saltaire, earlier this month, organised by Bradford LINk, an organisation which gives people a voice on health and social care matters. A report from this meeting has now been sent to health and social care commissioners by NHS Bradford and Airedale, Bradford Council and councillors sitting on the social care improvement committee.

Many of those attending the meeting described how they had to fight to get the support and the help they needed.

They said there were a lot of misunderstandings about the conditions and even professionals who supported those affected needed to learn more.

Becky Mears, network officer at LINk and author of the report, said: “We have been told it will helpful in developing the local autism strategy.”

The report calls for a raft of measures, including: l more funding for services for people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome l better communication by agencies and services that support people with the conditions l service providers working better to stop people falling through the net, for example if their condition is not considered to be either a learning disability or a mental health issue l an overhaul of the process of assessing a person for benefits or access to social care services l providing more training for professionals such as GPs and psychologists.

Miss Mears said: “Many of the people who attended our meeting said they want to take action to make change happen. We are helping them to form a work group that will meet regularly and find ways to achieve this.”

e-mail: claire.lomax@telegraphandargus.co.uk