AN AUTISTIC girl from Weston who suffers from incontinence problems has been told to clean up after herself by North Somerset Council

AN AUTISTIC girl from Weston who suffers from incontinence problems has been told to clean up after herself by North Somerset Council. Molly Newman, aged eight, has a mental age of four according to her parents, Helen and Simon, of Flamingo Crescent, Worle.Molly currently attends Mendip Green First School where she is accompanied by a learning support assistant who clears up after her if she has an accident. Her parents, both aged 32, want an assistant to help Molly when she moves to Westhaven Special School in September, but their request has been denied.They have been trying to get Molly diagnosed by an NHS child psychiatrist for the past four years to help the council recognise the severity of her difficulties.The Newmans have been referred to Weston's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service on numerous occasions by Dr Peter Maksimczyk, of Clarence Park Surgery, who has been the family's doctor for almost 25 years. He said: "It is inexplicable an assessment has not yet been carried out."According to her parents, a council official said Molly's needs would be catered for at Westhaven. However, Helen and Simon were told by the new school it is ill-equipped to deal with Molly's specific requirements. Helen, who has been on anti-depressants for four years as a result of the lack of help the family has received, was told at a meeting with Weston Town Hall officials on Monday that either Molly will have to look after herself or she will have to clean up after her.Helen said: "I cannot go back to work because I have to look after Molly. We feel completely helpless."Simon added: "It is all to do with money. To me the service they offer is non-existent."We just want Molly to be happy but she is very anxious and is bordering on depression and suffers panic attacks."A council spokesman said: "We do not discuss details of individual cases. However, we are confident that Molly's needs will be met when she attends school in September. "The manager of our disabled children team will be contacting Molly's parents to try to resolve any issues they may have.