On the 15th October 2024, the office of the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, published their report on “Waiting times for assessment and support for autism, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions”1. The report exposes the stark problems at the heart of community and mental health services, and the impact that it is having on children with neurodevelopmental conditions.
Long waits for diagnosis and support appointments, accentuated by, sometimes, multiple years for the final diagnosis, delay the implementation of the much needed support and interventions for neurodivergent children. For many neurodivergent people who have gone through the process of a formal diagnosis, this is no surprise.
This report, despite how concerning the subject matter, does one thing particularly well, well enough that it’s worth sharing here. There are lots quotes from parents and children about their experience of diagnosis and support. Who better to ask than those who have gone through it!
These sorts of direct quotes from neurodivergent people in public facing documents are a great way to explain and show the true impacts on real people which is sometimes lacking in similar reports (instead reducing people’s experiences to easily digestable numbers).
I conclude this short post by sharing a plea from a 14-year-old boy as quoted in the report: “ensure that my school teach children like me with SEN and do not spend the whole time sending me out of lessons or looking for excuses to have me away from the classroom.”
References
1. Children’s Commissioner. ‘Waiting Times for Assessment and Support for Autism, ADHD and Other Neurodevelopmental Conditions’, October 2024. https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2024/10/CCo-report-on-ND-waiting-times_final.pdf.