Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial support and advice on benefits his Department provides to help parents, children and carers who are affected by autism and Asperger's syndrome.

The Department provides financial assistance for families affected by autism and Asperger’s syndrome through Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and the disability and carer premiums in the income-related benefits. Information on these benefits is available through www.gov.uk.

In addition, DWP has implemented an autism/hidden impairment action-plan that focuses on three key objectives for improvement: autism and hidden impairment awareness training for Jobcentre Plus staff/managers; promotion of the autism/hidden impairment agenda to DWP Providers (Work Choice and Work Programme) and the promotion of the autism/hidden impairment agenda to employers through Disability Confident.