04/03/2016 BBC Wales Today

Tonight's headlines: These children get specialist help for their autism

but after concern services here are "patchy" the Welsh

Government draws up a new national plan.

And the creator of SuperTed criticises the red tape he says

is holding back the Welsh film industry.

A national plan to make sure children and adults with autism

in Wales get consistent support, regardless of where they

It follows concerns that services across the country are "patchy".

Our health correspondent, Owain Clarke has the details.

How many words beginning with TH can you think of in a minute?

That's the challenge for these pupils in Merthyr.

Could you write then underneath for me?

But each of the children at the school has autism,

a condition that affects how they see the world and interact

It is quite different to a mainstream classroom,

mainly because distractions are kept to a minimum in the classroom.

There are other strategies like visual timetables,

which helps them deal with transition during the day

so that when they move through activities they know

what is going to happen next and they are prepared.

Wales was the first country in the UK to introduce a national

autism plan six years ago, raising awareness of the condition

and forcing councils to develop services.

Some children still have to wait too long for diagnosis.

Guidelines say it should happen within three months.

Charities claim some wait up to seven years.

People don't recognise autism is a condition in itself

and they are often bandied back and forth between mental health

services and learning disabilities and that is one of the issues

Autism isn't either of those conditions, it is a condition

Faced with criticism that autism services across Wales are patchy

at best, the National Autism Plan has been revamped to establish

a National Autism Service by 2019, supporting children and adults

within health, education, social services and housing together

to try and make sure you get the same support wherever

As far as I understand it is the first in the world,

It is Wales leading the way because we listen to what has worked

in the past and hasn't been successful and to understand our

problem as it exists and try and do something about it.

Generally speaking, the new plan has been welcomed although there

are concerns there aren't enough concrete targets in it.

It is argued a new law is needed to back it up but if the new plan

means these pupils and others like them benefit, there will be

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay,

calling on politicians to put housing top of the agenda.

The event was organised by eight separate organisations under

the name "Homes for Wales" campaign - they claim the country is facing

All the political parties at the assembly say housing

The remains of a woman who went missing 14 years ago,

have been found at a quarry in Monmouthshire.

53-year-old Margaret Llewellyn was last seen at her home

Her disappearance prompted a major search operation, and relatives

Gwent Police say her remains were found at Beaufort Quarry,

An injured woman was forced to wait for an ambulance on the side

of a busy road in Cardiff for over four hours.

The 58-year-old tripped on a kerb on Penarth Road at around 10:30am,

hurting her back, but an ambulance didn't reach her until around

The Chief Executive of the Wales Ambulance Service has

apologised, saying current pressure on services meant they did not

have the resources to send a crew quicker.

The Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood's speech to her party conference

in Llanelli has been dominated by attacks on Welsh Labour's

She also set out the party's offering to voters ahead

of the assembly election, which include a major

re-organisation of the NHS, and writing off the debts

So many of you understand that our people have been taken

That you might have given a lifetime of loyalty to one party

but you are now asking what you're getting back.

The creator of the SuperTed cartoon series has criticised

the involvement of what he calls Welsh government "bureaucrats"

Mike Young, who is now a Hollywood film producer, says a lack

of support has forced him to make his next film outside Wales.

Our arts and media correspondent, Huw Thomas, has more.

SuperTed launched the career of Mike Young - the Welsh producer

who went on to make films and cartoons

His next film isn't animated, it will feature the legendary

He was refused support from the Welsh

He still has close links with Wales and launched

his latest big-screen animation in Wales this week.

Asked what he thought of the film and TV industry

here, his recent experience left him concerned.

I am a commercial director and I think if the industry

is going to work in Wales, they have got to become very commercial.

They have got around them people who know

how package films and how to market and sell them.

Rather than, you know, office workers.

The Welsh government said its support for the industry

has given Wales a global reputation for productions.

Its media production budget is delivering tangible results

and it made commercial decisions based on

Four more productions still have access to funds and will be released

Norm of the North is Mike's latest animation.

The tale of a polar bear charged with saving his home in the Arctic.

But it is SuperTed who has defined his career and is a character

We are at the beginning of writing a new SuperTed series and we hope

to start producing it and we will produce it

Will it be in Welsh or English or both?

S4C have shown interest in being part of it.

Mike Young is still passionate about Wales and accepts

its funding rejection might have coloured his attitude

towards the way the industry is run but it

hasn't put him off regularly returning from LA and bringing

with him one of the most iconic characters in Welsh television.

Sport and Welsh cylcists Elinor Barker and Keira Horne

were both part of Great Britain's Women's Team Pursuit that won bronze

this evening at the World Track Cycling Championships in London.

It was a disappointment for Cardiff's Owain Doull who missed

out on a bronze in the Individual Pursuit by one hundredth

Losing to his GB team mate Andy Tennant.

Rugby and the Scarlets scored three tries, winning 24-15

Man of the match Steff Evans crossed twice but the Scarlets will be

disappointed they didn't score one more try, to secure a bonus point.

Time for a look at what the weather has in store this weekend with

A taste of winter today with some snow on the high ground. We can look

forward to plenty of dry weather over the weekend but the cold wind

will take the edge of the temperatures. Any remaining bit of

rain, sleet and snow will clear and overnight will hang on to plenty of

cloud with temperatures getting down to minus one Celsius. Low pressure

moving away tomorrow, high-pressure starting to build from the West and

with it a more settled today compare to today. A cold start to Saturday

morning. Brisk north-westerly winds starting the day. Some sunshine and

showers along the north and west but a lot of dry weather to look forward

to. A bit more cloud as the day goes on. For the rest of the British

Isles it is a cold day with brisk north-easterly winds bringing the

edge off. Some showers over parts of the Southeast and Scotland, which

could be wintry for a time. Tomorrow afternoon there could be a few

isolated showers with a lot of dry weather compared to today with some

sunshine. The wind could make it feel cold with temperatures between

six and eight Celsius. Tomorrow night any remaining showers should

clear and some frost forming into the early hours of Sunday morning

with lighter winds. Temperatures getting down to minus one Celsius.

On Sunday, lighter winds making it feel less cold with some sunshine

and the risk of some showers for the top temperatures between five and

seven Celsius. A lot of dry weather on Monday with more persistent rain

on Tuesday. Have a lovely weekend. We're back with our next

update at 6:00pm tomorrow. But that's Wales Today,

thanks for watching. From everyone on the

late team, goodnight.