Children With Down’s Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy Waiting Years for Diagnoses: Report

Children with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and ADHD are waiting years between referral and diagnosis or support, the Children’s Commissioner report has shown. Children with Down’s syndrome referred to community health services waited the longest between referral and their first appointment, an average of 929 days or some two years and seven months. Between referral and first contact, children with cerebral palsy waited 827 days and faced the highest average wait of 1,222 days to receive a diagnosis. In terms of waiting for a diagnosis for neurodevelopmental conditions, some 15 percent of children with autism and almost one quarter (23 percent) of children with ADHD had waited more than four years....