Assistance with improving Australian and New Zealand Medical Services for people with Asperger Syndrome

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am emailing in the hope you may be able to help me with a project I am planning to undertake in July and August 2011.
I am a GP in Bournemouth, England. Details of my practice can be found at http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/pages/GP.aspx?Pid=7cdbf320-f637-49e0-a7d9-8e9f77bb393b&TopicId=9
I have the opportunity to take a sabbatical from my post in 2011. I have applied to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for a travel fellowship to allow me to do this work.
My project is about looking at how primary care medical services can offer a better service to people with Asperger’s syndrome. I would hope to be traveling through Australia and New Zealand meeting people from care organizations, which help people with Asperger’s syndrome. I would like to meet people with Asperger’s syndrome and their families to discuss what they feel is good about the services they access and what they feel could be improved.
This is why I am asking for your help. I would be very grateful if you would allow me to spend some time with your staff/volunteers/service users and their families to understand how your service works and the benefits received by your clients. This will allow me to reflect on how things can be improved in my own work environment for people with Asperger’s syndrome, for their carers and to liaise better with organizations that support people with Asperger’s syndrome.
One of the motivations to do this work is that my son, who is now 13 was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome a few years back and I would like to use this opportunity to understand more about the syndrome to help him and my family as well as the wider community.
I will need to complete a piece of written work for the fellowship and I will be looking at other ways of informing relevant statutory and voluntary agencies of my findings. This will allow others to consider if they can improve what they do for people with Asperger’s syndrome.
I am in the latter stages of applying for the travel fellowship. The final decision about whether WCMT will support my project will come in February 2011. Therefore, I am making an initial contact with relevant organizations to establish a willingness to be involved. I would be expecting to be in Queensland in early July for approximately 2 weeks and would very much like to meet up with you.
I would be grateful if you could respond to this email to confirm whether or not this project is something you could help me with.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Yours faithfully


Dr Jamie Sutherland

PS Having seen the news, I appreciate this is a difficult time for Queenslanders. I apologize for troubling you if you have been caught up in the flood disaster. My thoughts are with you.