Families waiting for an ADHD or autism assessment may spend crucial years without the information and support they need, according to a letter from the Disabled Children’s Partnership.
The letter, signed by Anna Bird, chair of the partnership, argues that some NHS bodies in England are imposing minimum waits of two years for assessments. It refers to a report dated 25 September.
Why the timing matters
The letter compares a two-year wait with asking a six-year-old child to wait that long for an assessment of a physical condition. It describes the delay as a quarter of a child’s life and says it can place the child’s development and potential on hold.
According to the letter, delays can mean that children and young people do not receive medical and practical assistance in time to support learning, friendships and everyday activities. These are presented as arguments about the consequences of prolonged waits, rather than as findings independently detailed in the supplied information.
Pressure on families
The letter also says that three-quarters of parents have reduced their working hours or stopped work because support was unavailable without a diagnosis. The fact sheet does not provide the methodology or further evidence behind that figure, so it should be treated as a claim made in the letter.
The partnership says young people and families reach its members’ services in or near crisis after prolonged waits for information. In this account, the effects of assessment delays extend beyond the child’s education or healthcare and into family working lives and wellbeing.
A call for joined-up support
The Disabled Children’s Partnership has raised concerns about what it describes as limited engagement from the Department of Health and Social Care with the government’s reform ambitions for special educational needs.
The letter contrasts what it describes as NHS rationing of assessments with the Department for Education’s principle of providing early help for young people. It argues that the two approaches are not joined up and calls for the situation to be resolved before another generation of children is failed.
The central message is that assessment delays are not simply an administrative problem. For families, the letter argues, waiting can postpone access to practical support at a time when children are learning, forming friendships and becoming more independent.
AI tools were used to assist with the preparation of this article.
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