As the parent of a young person I have fought for an ASD assessment since she was 4 years old and consistently been told by schools that they don’t recognise a problem.
Now, age 13, her mental health is suffering, she has anxiety and has become withdrawn. Only now am I getting some recognition from school that she has masked all these years.
It makes me so sad how neurodivergent young people, particularly girls, get overlooked because they are coping too well outwardly.
Now, I’ve been advised of a 2 year plus wait for an assessment and we face heading into GCSE’s with increasing school avoidance and an academic decline.
