New analysis reveals autism assessment and support crisis with tens of thousands of children waiting months and years for help after demand rockets by over 300% since Covid
- First report in a year-long series on how to deliver a country that works for all children by the Child of the North initiative in partnership with Anne Longfield’s new Centre for Young Lives think tank sets out a new plan to support autistic children.
- Report reveals more than one in four parents have waited over three years to receive support for their autistic child.
- Just one in ten children receive an appointment within the recommended 13 week waiting period.
- Report calls for more assessments to take place in nurseries and schools and more support for autistic children before diagnosis, and for new formal local partnerships between schools, health, voluntary services, and universities.
A report published today (Friday 2nd February) by the Child of the North initiative - led by the N8 Research Partnership of Northern universities and others - and former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield’s new Centre for Young Lives think tank, reveals a crisis in children’s autism assessment, warning that thousands of autistic children and young people are waiting months - or even years - for health and education support.
