Autism waiting line-up shame
Louise Russell
12May08
AUTISM AWARENESS . Mytle Bank mother, Miwa Stynes with her two autistic children, David, 5 and Tomi, 3. Pic: Keryn Stevens.
FAMILIES are suffering up to ``two years of heartache'' waiting for services to help their autistic children, Autism SA has revealed.
Families have to wait up to 12 months for a diagnosis, then up to another year before children can access early intervention programs.
Cutting the waiting lists for both, as well as providing better services for autistic adults, top Autism SA's ``Call to Action'', released to Messenger Newspapers as part of Autism Awareness Month, this month.
It comes as a recent Australian autism prevalence study found one in 160 children are diagnosed on the autism spectrum up from an estimated 1 in 10,000 a decade ago.
And local services are struggling to cope with the growing numbers.
``You might have a child, four or five, almost ready to start school on a waiting list to see if they have a disorder,'' Autism SA community relations manager Karl Zander said.
``Even those that aren't then diagnosed positively, there's two years of heartache for parents and they still have to go out and seek support from another agency.''
A diagnosis on the wide ranging autism spectrum means the child has a neurological disorder which limits their communication, socialisation and behaviour.
Co author of the prevalence report, University of WA autism expert Dr John Wray said this made autism more common than the combined disorders of cerebral palsy, diabetes, deafness, blindness, and childhood leukaemia.
``Yet autism services (are) poorly funded,'' Dr Wray says.
It is a point supported by the State Government's own Office of Disability and Client Services, director Dr David Caudrey saying ``there is certainly not enough'' support services for people with autism.
But he did point to the Federal Government's $190million commitment to early intervention services last year, and the high priority given to autistic people through local respite, supported accommodation, employment and education, as a step in the right direction.
``I'm not suggesting it's (funding) enough. There's obviously a degree of unmet need there are a lot of things available but it would be nice to have more of them,'' he said.
Flinders program director Professor Robyn Young said while the outcomes for children were often positive, there remained a 12-month wait, despite $100,000 in State Government funding.
``Clearly parents get frustrated, they want to do things and they get put on waiting lists,'' she said.
Autism experts are unclear on the reason for the sharp rise, pointing to a combination of community awareness and unknown environmental triggers.
Disability Minister Jay Weatherill was unavailable for an interview but, in an emailed statement via his media adviser Bronwyn Hurrell, outlined the government's commitment to autistic children and their families, including $4 million over four years for autism services, providing 710 autistic students with school support and a further 200 children with early intervention services.
