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

I hoped it was a misunderstanding as opposed to a deliberate rumour as you'd hope that the parents in these groups wouldn't want to incite panic

It's crap. Whenever you see something like that, Google. Look for official sites and advice. If it's not there then ignore.

It's not a misunderstanding - its a faked text message.

What an asshole. My child has autism, with other underlying conditions and it’s not the autism that makes her at risk. Her best friend’s dad is a doctor and I posted a copy of this to him. He said it’s a load of shite. Yes, that’s the word he used.

Has it not got something to do with the original plan about people with learning disabilities and the ventilator situations?

There is something in the government documentation about neurological disabilities and people with learning disabilities being in the vulnerable category (I would have to go an look for it) but I don't think it nec meant they needed to be in the shielded category.

I can kind of understand it, my autistic child would be a nightmare to treat in hospital - you would have to sedate him to even get close to examining him , let alone actually do anything to treat him.

You might want to edit it, I can see a name.

Although both texts have a very similar written style...

I'm in quite a few disability and autism groups and I haven't seen anything like this. My loved one is the lower end of the spectrum and while I completely understand why he would be at higher risk due to (lack if) understanding/ sensory needs/ behaviours and that Hospital would be impossible. There us a difference between his needs and those with say cancer or who have jus hAd a transplant. That being said my son may as well be shielded as we're taking that level of precaution to limit his chance of getting it. I think it's fake.

The terrible grammar, lack of sentence construction or paragraphs & the spelling of the word ‘learnining’ would suggest some kind of scam or fake news..

You would somehow (heaven only knows how) have to sedate my autistic child to be able to do anything to them in hospital.
This alone makes me extremely worried.

Ah yes I'll have to have mnhq remove the second picture as PP pointed out there is a name visible.

my autistic child would be a nightmare to treat in hospital - you would have to sedate him to even get close to examining him , let alone actually do anything to treat him.

My loved one is the lower end of the spectrum and while I completely understand why he would be at higher risk due to (lack if) understanding/ sensory needs/ behaviours and that Hospital would be impossible

Yes it is completely the same in case of my DS. Hospital treatment without sedation would be impossible so I'm praying we are never in that position

You would somehow (heaven only knows how) have to sedate my autistic child to be able to do anything to them in hospital.
This alone makes me extremely worried.

I completely understand, I too am worried about this.

I've reported the post and added a warning the comments that it is untrue and is fake news.

no disrespect but I imagine by the time someone is taken into hospital they wouldn't have the energy to fight or create a scene they would be too ill.
however (& this note is a load of baloney) there is research that people with LD & ASD & other communication disorders (ie Deaf) aren't able to access the health care/treatment that they might need because of their communication & understanding & inability to fight for what they need or understand why they need it - its a 2 way mis-communication issue but this has nothing to do with this (& yes I can quote or link with reputable stats - sadly)

When we get texts through from our GP surgery it comes from “NHS-NoReply”
I get appointment confirmations, advice about baby etc.
They text if I need to contact the surgery about blood tests from the same place.

I presumed everyone’s GP surgeries would come from the same - as they will all use the same messaging portal?

The group admin has now turned off comments on the post so I suspect it's going to be taken down and rightly so.

no disrespect but I imagine by the time someone is taken into hospital they wouldn't have the energy to fight or create a scene they would be too ill

You raise a valid point

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

Here is official list. It does call out learning disabilities as one of the group who need to be more strigent with social distancing, but not shielded. I don't know if to protect them because of difficulty accessing treatmentx or because there are other high levels of co-morbity with increased risk of pneumonia.

It makes no sense. Autism is an incredibly broad category. It includes people with profound issues cooperating with medical
Treatment who would find hospitalization incredibly stressful, but it also includes people like my daughter who have no problem at all in a medical setting, aside from expecting to be treated like the highly intelligent person she is and have her questions answered with technical detail normally reserved for adults instead of like a more typical child of her age.

This is the gov guidance for the high risk group who should be extra careful with social distancing, not the extra high risk shielding group who aren't allowed out for 12 weeks. It lists learning difficulties as in the high risk group, not the shielding one. The high risk group is very broad. I think the doctor surgery got the two groups mixed up.

The punctuation is terrible. That was not sent out by a Doctor.

It makes no sense. Autism is an incredibly broad category. It includes people with profound issues cooperating with medical
Treatment who would find hospitalization incredibly stressful, but it also includes people like my daughter who have no problem at all in a medical setting

We have both ends of the spectrum in our household. My DH is highly intelligent and would have no issue cooperating with medical professionals, whereas our DS has low functioning autism and would have no understanding of his need to be treat and would resist and respond hysterically.

The most suspicious thing is that is says Gp surgery or something as the sender
That is v odd
Perhaps some do send texts but not something as an NHS worker I've come across. It's not an urgent matter so why did they not just try another day by phone.
Also how did they know what her question was ? they would want tonsleak to someone first surely
Lastly it would say nhs no reply as sender.
To have this she has a Gp mobile number saved in her phone as Gp surgery .
All v suspicious.
Sadly sounds like an attention seeker.

I hope someone reports it to the surgery. That's an awful thing to do.

It's FB - fgs people get a hold of yourselves. Just rely on the Govt advice you're given with your own pinch of common sense, not on what 'Heidi' posted o rwhat your FB 'friends' have shared with you.

Hi there, @Roostersmum2 - just to let you know that we've withdrawn one of your posts as it appeared to have identifying information on it and we were concerned that it might cause you difficulties.

Feel free to drop us a line on [email protected] if you'd like to have a chat about it.

Thanks.

Looks fake as fuck!! that's someone attention seeking