Mel Merritt

Who Mel Merritt is

Mel Merritt is Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society (NAS), the UK's leading charity for autistic people and their families. She leads the organisation's public policy, campaigns and influencing work, regularly speaking to press on behalf of the NAS on issues including NHS autism assessment waiting times, autistic people's mental health, and autism employment rates. She has been a prominent public voice countering misinformation about the causes of autism, including appearing on Good Morning Britain to challenge claims made by President Donald Trump. She argues that successive governments have failed to act on ballooning autism assessment waiting lists and that the health and care system must be reformed to address chronic inequalities faced by autistic people.

References for this biography

1. 1.Our response to LeDeR Review – National Autistic Society — Confirms current job title as Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society (July 2026)
2. 2.Autism assessment waiting times – National Autistic Society (June 2026) — Confirms role title and documents her policy position on NHS autism assessment waiting times
3. 3.A Constant Fight report launch – National Autistic Society — Documents her leading role in the January 2025 NAS policy report on autistic people's struggle for support
4. 4.Thousands join fight against President Trump's false autism claims – National Autistic Society — Confirms her Good Morning Britain appearance and the NAS Truth. It Matters. campaign
5. 5.Contact us – National Autistic Society — Confirms NAS head office address as Weston House, 42 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3NH
6. 6.Waiting times for autism assessments a 'national government failure,' campaigners say – Morning Star — Third-party press coverage quoting Mel Merritt as 'head of policy' at the NAS on NHS waiting times (August 2026)

Notable achievements

• Led the launch of the NAS report 'A Constant Fight' (January 2025), calling on the UK Government to make autism a policy priority across health and social care, education, employment and mental health. Source ↗
• Appeared on Good Morning Britain to rebut President Donald Trump's claims linking paracetamol and vaccines to autism, as part of the NAS 'Truth. It Matters.' campaign which attracted 10,000 sign-ups in its first 24 hours. Source ↗
• Called out NHS autism assessment waiting times as 'a national government failure' following data showing more than 294,000 people waiting in England, with 87% waiting beyond the recommended 13 weeks. Source ↗

What Mel Merritt has said

• “Autistic people need better access to quality autism assessments and tailored support. The real debate about autistic people is how to address the chronic inequalities they face.”

  Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society · Learning disability & autism · 4 Oct 2026 · Autism risks becoming a “catch-all” diagnosis for a huge variety of conditions ↗

• “Spending is rising on short-term solutions due to years of a lack of long-term investment in improving services.”

  National Autistic Society · NHS waiting lists · 30 Sept 2026 · NHS bosses warn of chaos in ADHD and autism care ↗

• “While the sample is too small to be fully representative, the latest LeDeR report shows that suicide continues to be the highest cause of death for autistic people without a learning disability – making up one third of all deaths. We know 66% of autistic adults experience suicidal ideation, nine times higher than the general population. This is devastating and it shouldn't be this way.”

  Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society · Learning disability & autism · 8 Sept 2026 · Final LeDeR report on deaths of people with learning disabilities ↗

• “Waiting times for autism assessments are a national Government failure. Successive governments have had years of warning that the autism assessment wait times are growing, but they have failed to take any meaningful action.”

  Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society · Learning disability & autism · 8 Sept 2026 · Autism assessment waiting times ↗

• “Autism is understood as a spectrum. As the article points out, in the past people thought the spectrum was a straight line between 'more' and 'less' autistic, but this isn't right.”

  head of policy and influencing at the National Autistic Society · Learning disability & autism · 10 Aug 2026 · Leading expert says ‘anyone can have autism now’ as she claims spectrum is too broad ↗

Where Mel Merritt has been quoted

1. Anyone can now be diagnosed with autism, says leading researcherfemalefirst.co.uk · 4 Oct 2026
2. Autism risks becoming a “catch-all” diagnosis for a huge variety of conditionslearningdisabilitytoday.co.uk · 4 Oct 2026
3. NHS bosses warn of chaos in ADHD and autism carebbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. Final LeDeR report on deaths of people with learning disabilitiessocialcare.today · 8 Sept 2026
5. Autism assessment waiting timesautism.org.uk · 8 Sept 2026
6. Leading expert says ‘anyone can have autism now’ as she claims spectrum is too broadindependent.co.uk · 10 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Wiltshire SEND Reform Plan approved by Department for Education: Parents and carers invited to webinar to find out moreWiltshire Council
• Have your say on proposed changes to post-16 SEND transportCumberland Council
• Buddy Walk helping support people with Down’s SyndromeABC27

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.autism.org.uk/contact-us

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.