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A mother whose son has what's called high-functioning autism, or Asperger's Syndrome, told the programme he suffered unnecessarily for years because the diagnosis took so long.

"There wasn't enough specialist knowledge of high functioning autism in the service," the boy's mother told the programme.

"He couldn't leave the house because he was so anxious."

Now he has been diagnosed he is doing very well, she said.

"We're not looking for a cure," said Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University and vice-president of the National Autistic Society.

"Diagnosis means there is access to help," he said.

"Children with Autism wait on average about three and a half years to get their diagnosis," Mr Baron-Cohen said.