You can help Break the Cycle of autistic people trapped in inpatient mental health units by emailing your local Member of Parliament.

1. Find your local MP on Parliament’s website by entering your postcode or location. It will provide you with their contact details.
2. Write your email. We have suggested some text below as a starting point, but the more you can personalise the email with your experiences, the better. You must include your full name and address as MPs can only respond to people in their constituency.

[MP's name]
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

[Your name]
[Your full address and postcode]

[Date]

Dear [MP’s name],

I am writing to express my deep concern over the rising numbers of autistic people trapped in unsuitable and often damaging inpatient settings. This was brought to my attention by the autism research and campaigning charity Autistica as part of their ‘Break the Cycle’ campaign.

Too many autistic people are detained in mental health inpatient mental health units. On average, autistic people and those with a learning disability remain in these settings for five and a half years. Many do not have a formal mental health diagnosis and are not receiving effective treatment; planned reforms to the Mental Health Act which would have made it more difficult to detain people in this group have now stalled.

Autistic people are forced to wait years for a diagnosis, only to be sent away with no long-term support plan. The noise and chaos of inpatient units can make autistic people more distressed, and with a lack of understanding and personalised care, their mental health often gets worse, not better. Those who do manage to leave face a lack of effective support in the community. As a result, many return, trapped in a cycle that is destroying their lives.

However, with the right support and understanding, we can break the cycle and offer hope of a happy and healthy future for every autistic person. As your constituent, I would be very grateful for your support in calling on the Government to:

• Deliver an action plan for autism research as promised in the 2021 Autism Strategy, setting out strategic investment in developing the supports that could prevent autistic people from reaching a crisis;
• Take action across research, workforce and commissioning to tackle the diagnosis crisis forcing autistic people and their families to go without support, adjustments and understanding for years and a time.
• Work with NHS and social care bodies to clarify commissioning and funding arrangements for supporting autistic people across the lifespan.

Autistica are keen for your public support for their campaign on social media too. You can visit their website to learn more: autistica.org.uk/break-the-cycle. If you would like to discuss any of these issues further, you can contact Autistica’s policy lead: georgia.harper@autistica.org.uk.

Thank you for your help; I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]

You may receive a response by email or by post. MPs receive many emails every day, so any response may take time. If you get a positive response, you can forward this on to info@autistica.org.uk. It's useful for us to know about MPs who are supportive of this issue.

Thank you for your support. Every email counts.