Autism Care Provider Welcomes the National Autism Strategy

LONDON, March 9, 2010 - Brookdale Care, one of the UK's leading providers of
specialist hospital, residential and supported living services for people
living with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), has welcomed the publication
of "Rewarding and fulfilling lives: The strategy for adults with autism in
England (2010)."

The autism strategy sets out a clear vision for transforming
the lives and outcomes for adults with autism:

"All adults with autism are able to live fulfilling and
rewarding lives within a society that accepts and understands them. They can
get a diagnosis and access support if they need it, and they can depend on
mainstream public services to treat them fairly as individuals, helping them
to make the most of their talents."

    The Adult Autism Strategy focuses on 5 key priorities

    - Increasing awareness and understanding of autism among
      frontline professionals
    - Developing a clear, consistent pathway for diagnosis in every area,
      which is followed by the offer of a personalised needs assessment
    - Improving access for adults with autism to the services and support
      they need to live independently within the community
    - Helping adults with autism into work, and
    - Enabling local partners to plan and develop appropriate services for
      adults with autism to meet identified needs and priorities.

The strategy highlights the unique challenges faced by adults
with ASD in securing the support they need in order to live their lives to
the fullest. These include service-engendered barriers to education,
employment and the wider community which bring economic disadvantage, social
isolation, and mental and physical ill-health for adults with autism.

Lesa Walton, Care and Development Director of Brookdale Care,
said today;

"Brookdale Care has been focussed on meeting the challenging
needs of adults with autism for over 15 years. In this time we have seen the
struggles families and adults with autism have had to face in order to gain
the recognition and access to the support, clinical intervention and
specialist services that they deserve. So we applaud the publication of the
Adult Autism Strategy which confirms the growing weight of evidence that
people with autism suffer social and economic exclusion; only 15% of adults
with autism have jobs; adults with autism have poorer health than the rest of
the population and 49% of adults live with and are dependent on their
parents.

"Around one in every hundred adults is living with ASD, but
often their needs are simply not being met. The autism strategy is a very
important step in the growing movement to ensure that recognition of autism
and access to appropriate diagnosis improves and that autism specific
services and support are readily available. The Government's vision will
clearly need to be backed up by strong and effective delivery plans and we
need the promised statutory guidance for health and social care bodies to
support real change at a local level. Brookdale Care will continue to work in
partnership with NHS trusts and local authorities to ensure effective support
for some of the most vulnerable members of our society."

                               Notes for Editors:

    - Established in 1995, Brookdale is a family-run company specialising
      exclusively in the delivery of dedicated hospital and residential care
      facilities for people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC).

    - Brookdale Care provides specialist care services at our purpose built
      hospital at Milton Park in Wyboston, Bedfordshire - the first of its
      kind in the UK - and a range of residential homes in Bedfordshire,
      Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and North London.

    - Brookdale Care's philosophy is to deliver the safe, comfortable
      living environments and structured routines needed by people living
      with ASC and to provide individually tailored support and encouragement
      to help each service user maximise their potential.

    - Brookdale's Milton Park Independent Hospital and nine residential
      homes enable us to provide a complete range of services across the
      autistic spectrum, from those diagnosed with Autism and Learning
      Disabilities to those with High Functioning Autism or Asperger
      syndrome.

    - Brookdale offers the following range of services:
        - Specialist staff trained in ASC and challenging behaviours
        - Comprehensive and ongoing assessments and care plans
        - Specialist support from a multi-disciplinary team of
          clinicians and therapists
        - Structured education, employment and leisure activities
        - Bespoke educational courses at local colleges
        - Independent living skills
        - Community integration and involvement

    - For further information please visit our website at
      www.brookdalecare.co.uk

For more information call Louise Barua, +44(0)1707-387853 or visit
www.brookdalecare.co.uk/autism-news/article/630/Release-of-the-Adult-Autism-Strategy

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste
this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the
space if one exists.)

For more information call Louise Barua, +44(0)1707-387853