Drawing upon the lived experience of my youngest brother Arron who has autism, and the autistic people I have cared for as a Specialist in Special Needs Dentistry, I met with Emily Bourke – Labor MLC, our nation’s first Assistant Minister for Autism to discuss the oral healthcare needs of people with autism and the barriers they face to accessing care, which impacts on their general health, wellbeing, and flows on to limit their opportunities to access education, employment and live life to their true potential. I heard concerns about the negative impact of poor oral health and the barriers to accessing dental care echoed this week at the Autism Community Forum. Thank you to all of the people who stepped out in courage and shared their lived experiences that night. I encourage all individuals and caregivers with lived experience with autism to share and bring visibility to the issues which are important to you through emailing a few sentences, a video or audio clip to SAAutismStrategy@sa.gov.au by February 20th 2023.
Let’s amplify the voices of those with lived experience in shaping South Australia’s First Autism Strategy and be a part of building a community which is more inclusive of neurodiversity
#inclusion #neurodiversity #specialneedsdentistry #advocacy #oralhealthcare