Our daughter Ellie is currently being assessed for ASD. I was gobsmacked to discover our local PCT only have the time and resources to assess 12 children per year. It was explained due to the number of professionals needed and time to write reports very few children are formally assessed. Quite concerning our mental health services have got in such a state, especially CAMHS.
I was wondering if this is typical practice around the UK? I wouldn't imagine many trusts are keen to reveal such figures but guess we were given this information to reflect on how far we have come.
Ellie's Dad.
That does sound rather low. These are assessments, rather than positive diagnoses? (Maybe you'd only get 6 with a positive diagnosis from 12 assessments?)
Local authorities are meant to release such figures through the autism self-assessment framework (and within the local joint strategic needs assessment [JSNA]). The spreadsheet of responses should allow you to come to a rough comparison with similar areas, although it's self-reporting so methods of obtaining figures vary a lot. Q31 is about total number of people getting a diagnosis in a year (some have answered it for referrals for assessment instead), but lumps children and adults together; Q30 is about size of waiting list. Q13 is number of autistic children in years 10-13.