Liverpool, UK – Over 700 children in Liverpool are currently on an 18 month waiting list to receive testing for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Parents such as Clare Sorensen of Old Swan say that they are being forced to live in a perpetual state of “limbo” while waiting for their children to receive testing. Such assessments are crucial for those who are ultimately diagnosed in order to provide children with the opportunity to receive early intervention which can dramatically improve a child’s long-term prognosis.
Sorensen has two sons aged 4 and 7 whom she believes have ASD, a neurological disability that causes social and communication impairments, often requiring effective therapies to mitigate. However Sorensen argues that because families are forced to wait almost 2 years to receive a diagnosis, it puts them under a significant amount of stress. The concerned mother asserts:
” There are 700 families in limbo who just have to wait. It is a huge weight on your mind. It’s awful.”
As a result, Sorensen and her husband decided to start the Liverpool Autistic Children’s Alliance which meets at Joseph Lapp’s Centre every month. The Sorensens hope that the support group will help families feel less isolated by providing them with the assistance that they need during the tenuous waiting period.
Source: Joshua Taylor in the Liverpool Echo: 700 Liverpool families ‘in limbo’ as children await autism assessment