Mel MerrittSector leader
Head of Policy and Influencing
National Autistic Society is based in Hackney South and Shoreditch (London)
Cited in UK press coverage of health & social care
2 citations
Across 1 topic, first on 10 Aug 2026.
1 of these 2 are linkable below; the rest were counted by the coverage scan without a stored article link.
Biography
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
- 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.Autism assessment waiting times – National Autistic Society (June 2026) — Confirms role title and documents her policy position on NHS autism assessment waiting times
- 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.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.Contact us – National Autistic Society
Expertise
Cited on
Stated areas of expertise
- Autism assessment and diagnosis policy
- Autistic people's mental health
- Neurodivergence and health inequalities
- Autism employment gap
- SEND and education policy
- Autism misinformation and public communications
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 they’ve said
“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 ↗
Source references
- Leading expert says ‘anyone can have autism now’ as she claims spectrum is too broadindependent.co.uk · 10 Aug 2026
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.
Chief executives, directors and spokespeople of trade bodies, representative associations and charities speaking for the sector. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.