Mother from an autism support page has been told by GP that people with autism are considered very high risk?

[Roostersmum2]

My DS has autism, global developmental delay and sensory processing disorder. I'm in several support groups on Facebook for parents of children with autism and a fellow mum from one of these groups has put up this picture today, I have blurred out identifable details.

Today she received a letter stating that her autistic children fall under the shielded category and have to isolate for a minimum of 12 weeks. She says the children are fit and healthy with no conditions other than autism.

She contacted the surgery and was then sent this message (see picture)

She goes on to say that she finally managed to speak to the GP over the phone who reiterated what was said in the letter and said yes, they are in the shielded category and need to isolate.

Does anybody know anything about this? I've checked the official sources and can't find anything about autism making you high risk, but it does say "certain neurological conditions"

Can anybody shed any light on this? As a mother of an ASD child I'm both concerned and confused

Well no one has said either me (autistic) or my son (autistic/mld) are in the high risk group

That's good to know

People are questioning the authenticity of the text but the woman is adamant that it has been confirmed both in writing and over the phone.

I would have thought if true then everybody on the spectrum would be contacted

That message is so badly written I’d be very surprised if it was genuine

Yes it isn't what I would expect from a doctors surgery at all

Unless you can verify the source, treat it as fake news.

All I could find was www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/letter-responding-to-covid-19-mental-health-learning-disabilities-and-autism/ which seems to suggest that people with ASD and learning disabilities might be disproportionately affected by coronavirus control measures and that there might be additional obstacles in their treatment (as there would be with any hospital admission).

I couldn’t see anything suggesting they’re at increased risk of catching it or being very ill with it.

Looks fake. Really poorly written.

I wonder if this is more about the potential distress that the illness and possible treatment would cause, than an increased susceptibility, iykwim? That’s just a thought, not any particular knowledge on my part.

Yeah, she’s faked that. Bit nasty of her.

Nah. That's not genuine. No way. Go back to your group and ask her where she really got it from. Maybe she saw it elsewhere and is pretending it was sent to her? Otherwise she has done it herself.

That message looks as real as my pet unicorn.

Any message that looks like it was written after a bottle of gin should be disregarded.

If it's genuine then it's the first mention of a letter & GP text confirmation that I've seen. And I'm in lots of disability & autism groups on FB.

Had nothing through about my two, or through school about children I teach. Do you trust the source of the information? Check with the NAS.

I don’t believe it’s real either.
People are in the shielded groups because their body can’t physically cope with the affects of the virus - neurodiversty doesn’t impact the way lungs work or impact the immune system.

I wonder if this is more about the potential distress that the illness and possible treatment would cause, than an increased susceptibility, iykwim? That’s just a thought, not any particular knowledge on my part

I've just been saying this to DH. If our son become unwell, god forbid, it would be nigh on impossible to treat him in hospital unless he was (again god forbid) under anaesthetic.

I'm going to report the post. What a horrible thing to spread.

Im Spanish. In Spain children aren’t allowed to go out at all. However those who are autistic or any other special needs are allowed to go out. Doubt if they were high risk they’d be allowed to be out.

Myself, DP and DD are all autistic, none of us have seen anything like this.

Please I do not mean to be ignorant. But is autism not a developmental condition

It is not a physical condition, correct?

So in what way would it make someone more vulnerable for Covid 19?

I think it must be a fake message it doesn’t make any sense.

I just read the message properly. I cannot fathom how someone faked something so poorly. It is obviously fake and meant to scare people for no reason. I don’t understand why people do things like this.

Oh come on,

'learnining difficulties'

'considered to be very high risk if catches COVID'.

Was going to say the same as @EasterIssland. Here is Spain the lockdown is stricter than in the UK but they make an exception to let autistic children and adults out for fresh air and excercise
. that definitely wouldn't be happening if they were considered high risk given how high the rate of infection is over here.

It doesn't look as though the picture has attached, trying again

It’s a reply cruel message to fake - many families who have a child with ASD will go stir crazy if they can’t go outside.
It’s also going to waste a lot of NHS time as worried families check with their own GPs to see if the information applies to them.

No way is that real.

Has she shared it to the group? And it’s getting lots of attention and drama?

Thought so.