Autistic support concerns
EAST Runcorn MP Mike Amesbury has warned the House Of Commons that parents are waiting months for their child to have a proper autism assessment so they can access proper support.
Mr Amesbury, Labour, Weaver Vale, said a constituent with a seven-year-old son had contacted him after being left in limbo not knowing what to do or how much time they faced until the boy was diagnosed.
He said this meant that no education, health and care plan (EHCP) was in place and no services provision.
Instead, they must ‘battle on and on’.
Jo Platt MP, Labour, Leigh, said a woman in her constituency had waited until she was 46 to find out she was autistic and that things have now fallen into place on how she views the world.
The debate took place after Enfield Southgate and Labour MP Bambos Charalambous tabled a motion calling for the Commons to consider introducing a waiting time standard for diagnosis.
Mr Charalambous said children are usually diagnosed between the ages of four and five with girls slightly later than boys but many with the condition do not find out until adulthood.
He added that National Institute For Health And Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines published in 2010 said assessments should start within three months of referral.
Mrs Platt said: “As mentioned by many here, people have gone through their entire lives without being diagnosed.
“In some cases, that does not present a real issue, but for others it presents decades of being misunderstood and misdiagnosed with other conditions.”