Dear All, Stephen is still at the mental health hospital and I don't know when it will be possible for him to leave there. We have had some assessments done at St. Andrews but unfortunately they are not suitable for Stephen’s complex and severe needs; autism, self-harming and severe challenging behaviour. We are finding it really hard to find him a place near home. I was very disappointed and quite frankly have been suffering from depression because of this. It's very upsetting not to be able to help my son, and on top of this we have been told not to visit him. It’s now been 7 weeks since I saw or spoke to him, aside from last week were I saw him for just 30 minutes as I was there to meet NHS England. That meeting went well, however it was more for them to see what the ward was like, and for them to have an overall idea of what it is like for us to have our son placed there. Now they keep going on about the Winterborne View situation and that Norman Lamb wants the situation resolved, I will come to that in a bit, but firstly, let me say that I find myself quiet lucky to be living in Islington and to be fair, I have an understanding local social services department, so I put my hand up and say, thank you Islington. They have been great at trying to find my son a suitable placement, but we have not been lucky as there's simply none available in London that can cater for my son’s complex needs. They don't want my son to stay at St. Andrews indefinitely, but it's a case of where we can find support for my son. Now when I say I am lucky? Well, I am lucky because I look at some of the parents around the country who have no support whatsoever as well as some of the young adults that I have been in contact with through their parents. It’s absolutely heart-breaking, my son, thank god, is not being abused, but there are many young people being horrendously abused. The only thing my son is suffering from is the violation of his basic human rights, he has no quality of life. They stop Stephen doing the things that he enjoys, as his care is based upon the Mental Health Act, an Act that is for the mentally ill, but my son is not mentally ill, but is still treated as such due to the fact that he has been sectioned under Section 3, of the Mental Health Act. Therefore he has been put in a place that locks him up 24/7, if he is suffering from anxiety they punish him and use the Mental Health Act. He can't go out because ‘this that and the other’ says that is what the law is. I get so angry and frustrated by that, but nothing is as horrible as some of the cases I have been hearing from mums themselves. The recent cases, were I know some of the mums who are fighting to bring their children home, are particularly heart-breaking. For example, there's Claire Dyer, who is living 240 miles away from home. Stephen is 80 miles way, Chris 80 miles away, Thomas 80 miles away, Josh 250 miles away, and there are many others that I can't mention, they too are either miles and miles away from home, or are in secure mental health placements where their parents haven't been allowed to visit in months. Some have been put in Young Offenders Units which are also hundreds of miles away because their local authority has no such units to look after and care for them. So now I come to Norman Lamb, he goes on about the Winterbourne situation, yet he and David Cameron do nothing to help their local authorities, nor help to instruct social services around the country, especially in the rural countryside, to take better care of these young adults and to provide good care for these autistic young people. It's disgraceful that a country like the UK is ignorant about what’s going on. They let my son and the sons and daughters who have been mentioned; live in these awful mental institutions hundreds of miles away from their loving and caring family, including their siblings. My own little boy, who's 7 hasn't seen his big brother in 7 months. He made me cry the other day when we got to Sunday and once again we could not go and visit his brother. He said to me, “Mummy, can we go visit my bro? I need my big bro, I love my Ste, I miss him, can we not bring him home? Please?” This broke my heart, and it breaks the hearts of Claire’s family, Thomas’s mum, who's so alone and who feels lost without her son, and the family who care for Chris as well. Norman Lamb and David Cameron should be accountable for these situations around the country, I for one won't take it lightly anymore, I will fight on for all of these families, and for all of the other thousands of families around the country. I want to be their voice and the voice for the young children with autism who will one day be young adults who will need these very same services. So I call on you all, please, please write to your MPs, write to Norman Lamb and David Cameron, to find in this country suitable housing with supported living for these young people. I say to David Cameron, don't spend millions and millions sending our children to these so called mental health placements and private autism units where they only care about money, instead make each local authority be responsible for the good care and health of these young people. Don't send our children hundreds of miles away, where we are only allowed a two hour visit once a week, with no phone calls or were the young people are not allowed to contact us via Skype or FaceTime on their iPads. This is another thing, mental institutions won't allow the young people to have any technology whatsoever, yet staff are allowed mobile phones. Also, I am calling on Norman Lamb and the NHS and any other service that provides care for these young people, please please, train the staff in autism. Do not let hospitals, schools and private placements employ just anyone, with no English skills or knowledge of autism and what autism is, it's a major frustration for all us parents when we see staff who work with our children, and who are not trained and simply do not have a clue how to help our kids. So to conclude, I am not here just for my son, I want to be a voice for all the sons and daughters and for all those parents who don't know that their child has rights, that they are allowed to have the best care possible and that they do not have to accept what they have been told to do because it's ‘for the child's best interests’, it is not. You are a parent and should be in complete control. Thank you all for supporting me and all these parents. God bless you all. Leo Andrade.