The UK Autism Foundation has welcomed the new Autism Strategy for Adults announced by Health Minister Phil Hope MP.

We have been calling for a strategy for several years and we welcome what is definitely a step in the right direction - where autism is concerned.

Care services minister Phil Hope said he wanted the strategy to be a "foundation for change".

"People with autism have a huge contribution to make - shutting them out deprives everyone."

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University's Autism Research Centre, said he hoped the strategy would help a group of people who were often "invisible and marginalised".

He added: "It pinpoints achievable solutions that could radically improve the lives of people with autism."