New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline - Ministry of Health

Overview
Overview
Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline
development process
Background
In 1998, the Government commissioned a
review of autism services, now known as
the Curry Report, across key sectors. The
review identified gaps in services and made
a number of recommendations to improve
the quality of autism spectrum disorder
(ASD) related services. Key issues included
a lack of coordinated services and crossgovernment
leadership difficulties. This led
to the establishment of the Autism Services
Interdepartmental Working Group (ASIWG) in
1999. The Ministries of Health and Education
and the Department of Child, Youth and Family
were represented in this group. ASIWG was set
up to implement the recommendations of the
review and agreed to oversee the development
of an ASD Guideline.
In September 2002, in response to the
recommendations in the Curry Report, the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education,
in conjunction with the Paediatric Society of
New Zealand started work on scoping an ASD
Guideline. For the first time in New Zealand, the
ASD Guideline was seen as a way of providing
evidence-based information for health, disability
and education professionals and social service
agencies for the provision of services for people
with ASD, their families and whänau.
The ASD Cross Government Officials Group
was established in July 2004 to replace ASIWG.
The purpose of the group was to improve the
progress being made in the development of
ASD initiatives and to oversee the completion
of the ASD Guideline. The Senior Officials also
provided regular updates for their respective
Ministers.
An ASD Guideline Steering Group was
convened in December 2002 to help guide the
work of the guideline project team. The purpose
of the group was to ensure the perspectives
of service users were included in the ASD
Guideline, promote awareness of cultural and
migrant issues and help build the credibility of
the project within the community. The Steering
Group members include representation from:
adults with ASD; parents/families of people
with ASD; the Paediatric Society; the Faculty
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the
Royal Australia and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists; disability provider organisations;
Needs Assessment Service Coordination (NASC)
services; Child, Youth and Family; Pacific
advisors; school principals; early intervention
services; the Ministry of Education, Special
Education (GSE); and the Disability Services,
Mäori Health, Clinical Services, and Mental
Health directorates within the Ministry of
Health. The members of the Steering Group are
listed in Appendix 2.
The Ministries of Health and Education
jointly funded the ASD Guideline. Primarily,
this involved funding the work of the
three workstreams set up to develop the
ASD Guideline. The Paediatric Society of
New Zealand led the Assessment and Diagnosis
workstream guideline development which
was funded through a contract from the
Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Education,
Special Education (GSE) funded the Education
workstream. The Disability Services Directorate
in the Ministry of Health funded the Support
and Transition workstream.
Work was coordinated by a Project Manager
in the Ministry of Health with support from
Technical Editors who were independently
contracted to carry out specific work. The Project
Sponsors were responsible for overseeing this
work and allocating the funding in the project.
Structure of the ASD Guideline
The guideline is divided into eight parts. Part 1
covers the identification and initial assessment
of children, young people and adults with ASD.
Part 2 focuses on how best to provide support
to people who share their lives with individuals
who have ASD. It also outlines the personal
health needs of people with ASD. Part 3 covers
12
New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline