English: We've also got Trinity Fields special school, of which I'm a governor, but I think we also need another special school in the borough, such is the demand. And I'll be pushing that to the new leadership of Caerphilly County Borough Council. We're also lucky enough to have the Autistic Minds hub, which is a charity organisation, and they allow me to hold surgeries there in Caerphilly town. Once every two months, I hold a surgery there and I meet parents and adults with autism and try to help them through some of these difficult times that you find when you have either a family member, or yourself, diagnosed with autism. One thing I wanted to mention was the impact of lockdown. I'm really glad Lynne Neagle is here today. She was Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, of which I was a member, last term, and she'll recall that, during the first lockdown, we were at our wits' end, where the narrow definition of 'vulnerable children' was such that many children with autism and other ALN conditions were finding themselves at home when they should have been in hubs, because children who were being taken to hubs were vulnerable in the sense that they might be harmed at home, not children who were vulnerable with conditions like ASD. Lynne Neagle introduced me to the Together for Children and Young People partnership, and the chair, Carol Shillabeer. And we, as a group of parents from Caerphilly, met with Carol Shillabeer. In the second and third lockdown, those children in Caerphilly went to school and were seen in hubs and onsite. Thank you, Lynne Neagle, for making that happen, and thank you to Carol Shillabeer as well for listening and making sure the Welsh Government made sure that that definition was broader. It was really, really important for people in Caerphilly. And I noticed in our Facebook group, they were saying, 'To my surprise, my son or daughter had a place this time around.' And you can't get closer to democracy and making democracy work for you than that, I don't think. But there remain challenges, and ongoing diagnosis and support is one of them. The Royal College of Psychiatrists have been kind enough to supply me with a paper that briefs on some of the things that are needed, and they draw attention to the children's commissioner's 2022 report, 'Making Wales a No Wrong Door Nation - how are we doing?' They highlight a passage from it: 'Waiting times for an assessment for a neurodevelopmental condition (for children with suspected Autism, ADHD and other similar conditions) are extremely long, and in the meantime children and their families can receive very little if any supportWhen children may have both a neurodevelopmental condition and poor mental health they often receive a very disjointed service, despite this being very common.' The reason for that is the number of professionals that are involved in the process. I have experienced that, going from the speech and language aspect to the child psychologist aspect, to the teachers, to inclusion in the local authority. There are so many different people involved that it is difficult for a parent to map your way through that process. That is why this idea of 'no wrong door' is a good one. And the variety of manifesting symptoms are always different. For Caitlin, she doesn't have huge meltdowns because of external stimuli; if anything, she's understimulated by her environment. For other children who I see at Sparrows, they are overstimulated, and that's why you might see children wearing ear muffs or earphones, to try to drown out the external noise - although Caitlin has started wearing them, but I think it's more of a fashion statement on her part, because she's seen everybody else doing it. [ Laughter.] There's also, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, which is a key problem when it comes to supporting children and adults with autism, because that is a key part of what is needed. I can see Paul Davies in the Chamber, and we had much dialogue when he introduced his autism Bill. We came to the point where we actually disagreed on that. I just took the liberty of digging out the aims of the Bill, and one of them was to introduce a strategy for meeting the needs of children and adults with autistic spectrum disorder conditions. Primarily, it was about ensuring a clear pathway to diagnosis of autism in local areas.
Welsh: Mae gennym hefyd ysgol arbennig Trinity Fields, ac rwy'n llywodraethwr arni, ond cymaint yw'r galw, rwy'n credu ein bod angen ysgol arbennig arall yn y fwrdeistref. A byddaf yn gwthio hynny gerbron arweinwyr newydd Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili. Rydym hefyd yn ddigon ffodus i gael hyb Autistic Minds, sy'n sefydliad elusennol, ac maent yn gadael imi gynnal cymorthfeydd yno yn nhref Caerffili. Unwaith bob deufis, byddaf yn cynnal cymhorthfa yno ac rwy'n cwrdd â rhieni ac oedolion ag awtistiaeth ac yn ceisio eu helpu drwy rai o'r adegau anodd hyn a welwch pan fydd naill ai aelod o'r teulu, neu chi eich hun, wedi cael diagnosis o awtistiaeth. Un peth yr oeddwn am ei grybwyll oedd effaith y cyfyngiadau symud. Rwy'n falch iawn fod Lynne Neagle yma heddiw. Roedd yn Gadeirydd y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg yr oeddwn yn aelod ohono y tymor diwethaf, ac fe fydd yn cofio ein bod ar ben ein tennyn yn ystod y cyfyngiadau symud cyntaf, lle'r oedd y diffiniad cul o 'blant sy'n agored i niwed' yn golygu bod llawer o blant ag awtistiaeth a chyflyrau anghenion dysgu ychwanegol eraill gartref pan ddylent fod mewn hybiau, oherwydd roedd plant a âi i hybiau yn agored i niwed yn yr ystyr y gallent gael eu niweidio gartref, yn hytrach na phlant a oedd yn agored i niwed gyda chyflyrau fel anhwylderau'r sbectrwm awtistig. Cefais fy nghyflwyno gan Lynne Neagle i'r bartneriaeth Law yn Llaw dros Blant a Phobl Ifanc, a'r cadeirydd, Carol Shillabeer. Ac fel grŵp o rieni o Gaerffili, cawsom gyfarfod â Carol Shillabeer. Yn yr ail a'r trydydd cyfnod o gyfyngiadau symud, aeth y plant hynny yng Nghaerffili i'r ysgol ac roeddent i'w gweld mewn hybiau ac mewn ysgolion. Diolch, Lynne Neagle, am wneud i hynny ddigwydd, a diolch i Carol Shillabeer yn ogystal am wrando a sicrhau bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn sicrhau bod y diffiniad hwnnw'n ehangach. Roedd yn wirioneddol bwysig i bobl yng Nghaerffili. A sylwais yn ein grŵp Facebook, roeddent yn dweud, 'Er syndod i mi, cafodd fy mab neu fy merch le y tro hwn.' Ac nid wyf yn credu y gallwch ddod yn agosach at ddemocratiaeth a gwneud i ddemocratiaeth weithio i chi na hynny. Ond ceir heriau o hyd, ac mae diagnosis a chymorth parhaus yn un ohonynt. Mae Coleg Brenhinol y Seiciatryddion wedi bod yn ddigon caredig i roi papur i mi sy'n briffio ar rai o'r pethau sydd eu hangen, ac maent yn tynnu sylw at adroddiad y comisiynydd plant ar gyfer 2022, 'Gwneud Cymru'n Genedl Dim Drws Anghywir - i ba raddau rydyn ni'n llwyddo?' Maent yn tynnu sylw at ran ohono: 'Mae'r amserau aros ar gyfer asesiad o gyflwr niwroddatblygiadol (yn achos plant yr amheuir bod ganddynt Awtistiaeth, ADHD, a chyflyrau eraill tebyg) yn eithriadol o hir, ac yn y cyfamser gall plant a'u teuluoedd dderbyn ychydig iawn o gefnogaeth, os o gwbl Pan fydd gan blant o bosib gyflwr niwroddatblygiadol yn ogystal â iechyd meddwl gwael, maen nhw'n aml yn derbyn gwasanaeth darniog iawn, er bod y cyfuniad hwn yn un cyffredin iawn.' Y rheswm am hynny yw nifer y gweithwyr proffesiynol sy'n rhan o'r broses. Profais hynny, wrth fynd o'r elfen lleferydd ac iaith i'r elfen seicolegydd plant, i'r athrawon, i gynhwysiant yn yr awdurdod lleol. Mae cymaint o wahanol bobl yn rhan o'r broses fel ei bod yn anodd i riant fapio eich ffordd drwy'r broses honno. Dyna pam y mae'r syniad o 'ddim drws anghywir' yn un da. Ac mae'r amrywiaeth o symptomau bob amser yn wahanol. I Caitlin, nid yw'n cael pyliau mawr o chwalfa oherwydd ysgogiadau allanol; os rhywbeth, nid yw'r amgylchedd yn ei hysgogi ddigon. I blant eraill a welaf yn Sparrows, cânt eu gorysgogi, a dyna pam y gallech weld plant yn gwisgo myffiau clustiau neu glustffonau i geisio boddi'r sŵn allanol - er bod Caitlin wedi dechrau eu gwisgo, ond credaf ei fod yn fwy o ddatganiad ffasiwn ar ei rhan, oherwydd ei bod yn gweld pawb arall yn ei wneud. [ Chwerthin.] Hefyd ceir prinder o seiciatryddion plant a phobl ifanc yn ôl Coleg Brenhinol y Seiciatryddion, sy'n broblem allweddol o ran cefnogi plant ac oedolion ag awtistiaeth, oherwydd mae hynny'n rhan allweddol o'r hyn sydd ei angen. Gallaf weld Paul Davies yn y Siambr, a chawsom gryn dipyn o drafodaeth pan gyflwynodd ei Fil awtistiaeth. Daethom at bwynt lle'r oeddem yn anghytuno ar hynny mewn gwirionedd. Bûm mor hy â mynd at wraidd nodau'r Bil, ac un ohonynt oedd cyflwyno strategaeth ar gyfer diwallu anghenion plant ac oedolion â chyflyrau anhwylder ar y sbectrwm awtistig. Yn bennaf oll, roedd yn ymwneud â sicrhau llwybr clir at ddiagnosis o awtistiaeth mewn ardaloedd lleol.