For a child to access disability services they must have – as their legal right – an assessment of need. It puts them on a service pathway.
But the waiting list is long and growing every year. It currently stands at 21,782 which means some children will wait years for diagnosis.
To speed up the process and deal with the stubbornly long waiting list, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has announced details of a new “autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol”.
How will the new protocol work? Who will conduct the assessments? And is it “a significant step forward in how we support autistic people” as the Minister claims.
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Several stakeholders say no, but who are they and what are their issues with a plan intended to shorten waiting lists?
Social affairs correspondent Kitty Holland explains the new protocol, and the growing backlash against it.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Andrew McNair and Suzanne Brennan.
