Amber’s paper COVID-19 health and social care access for autistic people: European policy review is available on the BMJ Open website.
Dr Amber Ruigrok, co-first author on the paper, is Research Associate at the Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge.
The paper entitled COVID-19 health and social care access for autistic people: European policy review is available on the BMJ Open website and concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated existing healthcare inequalities for autistic people and has likely contributed to disproportionate increases in morbidity and mortality, mental health/ behavioural difficulties and reduced quality of life.
As a result researchers, clinicians and the autism community are calling for urgent updates to policies and guidelines regarding the accessibility of COVID-19 (and broader healthcare) services to prevent the widespread exclusion of autistic people, which represents a violation of international human rights law.
Read COVID-19 health and social care access for autistic people: European policy review