ASD support: Why parents have to 'jump through multiple hoops'
Recent reports of a 600 percent increase in the number of adults seeking help for neurodivergent conditions in Kent has shone a small insight into the crisis the country is in when it comes to ASD and ADHD care.
Dr Lisa Williams, one of the UK’s leading clinical psychologists and director of The Autism Service, believes overdiagnosis is the cause of skyrocketing waiting times.
She believes the rise in waiting times is due to misinformation being widely spread about what ASD and ADHD are, leading people to seek assessments that they do not need.
NHS data suggests that in June 2024 there were 187,567 patients with an open referral for suspected autism, of which 87.3 percent had a referral open for at least 13 weeks.
Dr Williams emphasises that conditions such as ASD and ADHD remain relatively rare developmental disabilities which require specialist care. Whilst the growth in awareness has offered a glimpse of positivity, the movement of broader categories such as ‘neurodiversity’ has led to a blurring of diagnostic criteria.
Dr Williams said: “The definition of 'what is ASD' and 'what is ADHD' has been manipulated and distorted so much over the years, by the voice of well-meaning autistic and ADHD communities but also by misinformed and inadequately trained professionals. This means that almost anyone's problems can be interpreted in a way to make the diagnostic criteria fit.
“This movement is not grounded in robust science and evidence but is the consequence of a society that all too readily adopts ideologies without thinking of the consequences.
“As a result, professionals are increasingly fearful of questioning popular narratives about what ASD and ADHD are, leading to extreme waitlists and putting those who are genuinely in need of help at a disadvantage.”
Dr Williams advocates for rigorous diagnostic processes that respect clinical systems, manage demand appropriately and maximise specialised care access for those genuinely requiring it.
Dr Williams adds: “It's a vicious circle. What compounds the problem is that the big providers of assessments, including the NHS, use abbreviated pathways and unregulated staff to complete assessments, all to save costs.
“The only outcome of this will be more diagnoses of questionable validity, further misinformation about what these disorders actually are and less help for the people genuinely living with such disabling conditions.”
The Autism Service currently completes around 3,000 assessments annually, with most being private patients, though some are funded by the NHS, local councils and His Majesty's Prison Service. Their diagnosis rate is around 60 percent, contrasting with some services reporting rates near 100 percent.
Dr Lisa Williams explained: "My agenda is only motivated by a desire to get things right for the small groups of people that do have conditions like ASD and ADHD.
“There are hundreds and thousands of people identifying as ‘neurodiverse’, but as healthcare professionals, we need to remain objective and independent in our thinking.”