Broken system is failing my autistic son, says mother
A LOCAL mother has been left in a state of despair about a lack of help for her autistic son. She said that the island’s broken system of occupational therapy was failing many vulnerable children.
Julie Lunk’s seven-year-old son was diagnosed as needing extra help within his mainstream primary school for his fine and larger motor skills.
The family later received a letter from children’s occupational therapy stating that ongoing staffing difficulties and limited resources meant that they could not, at that time, provide a comprehensive service.
Ms Lunk, pictured, said she felt angry and let down, not with over-stretched health workers, but with the politicians.
‘It is totally unacceptable and thoroughly disgusting that the States of Guernsey and its deputies continue to make further cuts to services that are clearly needed and for them to ignore parents who are quite literally screaming out for them to do something about it.
‘They are in effect wilfully neglecting our children and adolescents and it has and will continue to have a huge detrimental effect on them and their quality of life.’
The letter Ms Lunk received apologised for the disruption and added that ‘children who are at risk of harm or injury to themselves or others will be prioritised during this period’.
It included a phone number to ring for further details, but when Ms Lunk left a message no one got back to her.
Feeling frustrated, Ms Lunk reached out to other parents and discovered that hers was not an isolated case, and other people had a similar experience.
They told her stories of demoralising care failings, parents said they could not even get a diagnosis, some had been waiting years for help, others were looking to go private in the UK.
One parent said she was looking to spend £4,500 in travel and expenses to get an autism assessment in the UK for her daughter.
Another said she had been waiting for an autism assessment for her five-year-old son, and in the meantime he had been put on a reduced school timetable of only two hours per morning.
The problem does not just relate to autism.
Children with other conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD, cerebral palsy, dyspraxia and anxiety were also involved.
Ms Lunk said all the individual stories revealed a picture of widespread, systemic failings and that a proper paediatric occupational therapy service had not been in place for years.
‘It also came to light that there has been three different locum occupational therapists coming and swiftly leaving again within the last year, which in turn have produced no solid plans for children accessing the service – children and their parents are being left in limbo.’
A pressure group of affected parents is now being set up so that their combined voices are stronger, and they aim to fight together to get the treatment they feel their children need.
While the parents were critical of the States, many did speak highly of the charity Autism Guernsey and the support it provides.
A spokesperson for Health & Social Care said they were looking into the matter.
