There has been a significant increase in the numbers of local children being referred to autism assessment over the past seven months, it has emerged.
The figure was revealed at a meeting of the board of Western Trust at Altnagelvin Hospital.
At the meeting, Ms Teresa Molloy, Director of Performance and Service Improvement delivered the Trust’s Performance Management Report to end of October.
The report showed that by the end of March 2015, 102 children had been referred for autism assessment in the Western Trust area.
However, that figure had rocketed to 203 by October, a jump of 101 in seven months.
Niall Birthistle, a non-executive member of the Trust, asked why there had been such an increase.
Responding, Kieran Downey, Director of Women & Children’s Services and Executive Director of Social Work, said it was down to ‘better awareness, essentially’.
“There’s quite a large spectrum of disorder, and referrals are made at a very early stage,” he said.
Mr Downey added that GPs and schools were also ‘more acutely aware’ of the condition.
He continued that an audit had been carried out to assure that the referrals were appropriate, which had shown that that a high number of the referrals were deemed appropriate.
The Trust’s chairman, Gerard Guckian, said the increase in referrals could be viewed as a ‘positive’.
“If it’s there, then it’s better that it’s diagnosed early,” he added.
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