Four year waits for autism diagnosis says Kent charity
We spoke to Tim Cook from Autism South East
A charity in Kent has told us that most people are waiting nearly four years for an autism diagnosis.
It's after NHS data revealed the amount of people waiting longer than 13 weeks for diagnosis has gone down by twenty one percent in the South East.
In 2020, it was two and a half thousand people, it is now just under two thousand.
Tim Cook from Autism South East says the statistics don't reflect 'real life.'
"Most people would dream of having a 13 weeks turnaround on an autism diagnosis and that would be our dream if it were ever achievable.
"In most the conversations that we have with parents, they say they are waiting three to four years for a diagnosis...for some parents it is even longer.
"Without having the diagnosis, school are often reluctant or don't have the funding to put the relevant support in for children. As a result, their anxiety levels increase and they become so anxious in the end that they are unable to physically attend school.
"For many parents this is a crisis, the impact on the children is immense and of course there are still parents whose children are being flagged everyday for a diagnosis and they are joining the waiting list.
"We were somewhat flabbergasted to see those figures."