A GWENT mum-of-two is calling for more help for carers who look after children with autism.

Ceris Mainwaring-Smith says she felt like she was "left alone" when her son Pyrs was diagnosed with autism two years ago. She believes carers should be offered more practical solutions and more outside help.

Last month Ceris was moved to tears by the news of a mother and son captured on CCTV falling to their deaths from the Humber Bridge. In the tragic aftermath, it emerged the woman had struggled to cope with the demands of caring for her autistic son.

And Ceris admitted: "In my mind, I have been on that bridge a few times." Pyrs, who is now four, "completely shut down" six months after his father Jeff died after a 17-month battle with blood cancer.

Doctors believed his apparent refusal to make eye contact, or communicate with those around him, was part of the grieving process.

But after his condition worsened he was finally diagnosed with autism.

Mrs Mainwaring-Smith, of Maple Drive, Monmouth, said: "He was like an alien. I love my son but I missed him too. "I grieved for him. I felt like I was alone and nobody else understood."

She was offered just four hours help a week from Monmouthshire county council due to a lack of funding and was given no practical advice on how to deal with a child prone to pulling his own hair out and harming himself.

"You are told he has autism and then you are left to get on with it.

"There should be more research and funding available.

"Autism is not like a broken leg, it is unseen."

And she believes the public should learn to understand the disorder and the debilitating effects it can have on a family.

On one occasion a woman told her she should not have had children if she could not bring them up properly after an outburst from Pyrs in a shop.

Mrs Mainwaring-Smith also has a 10-year-old daughter, Myfanwy.

Her late husband Jeff was a sergeant with Gwent Police and was Mayor of Monmouth at the time of his death in 2002.