A GROUP campaigning to improve the provision of education for children with autism in York is appealing for other parents to come forward to help with the fight.

Autism Inclusion in Mainstream, or AIM, has been set up by a group of parents with the aim of improving the support for their children in mainstream schools.

One of the main goals of the group is to establish a specialist resource centre at a secondary school in the city.

Mick Waudby, spokesman for the group, said it was vital other parents with children with autistic spectrum disorders were involved.

He said the group had experienced difficulty trying to find parents as the information was confidential but he believed there were at least 11 parents of year four children in the city.

He said: "If a unit is set up our children will not get to benefit from it, the parents that need to get involved are those whose children are eight or nine years old.

"These are the people who, by the time the unit is set up, it will affect."

Mick said often autistic spectrum disorders did not manifest themselves in primary education and it was only when children went to the less structured environment of a secondary school that it was identified.

The condition was also much more common in boys than girls and there were some children that often remained undetected.

Research by the group has found that while some schools are doing a fair job others are failing children.

The group believes if the needs of their children are not addressed while they are in school it can affect them later on in life.

Mick added: "We want to keep the pressure on and we want parents to get involved because it is their children that will be effected by it."

Some parents attended a meeting at York Hospital earlier this week with speakers from a similar unit in Derby.

The group is planning to hold another meeting for parents. Anyone interested should contact Mick at mick@unisonfree.net

Updated: 11:03 Wednesday, February 26, 2003