CHILDREN WITH attention deficit disorder (ADD) in the midwest can wait up to five years for an educational assessment, according to a support group based in the region.
Speaking ahead of a conference which takes place in Limerick next month, Katrina Allen, chairwoman of the ADD Midwest Support Group, said yesterday that parents have to wait for at least a year before their child is seen by a child psychiatrist.
According to Ms Allen, the support group, which was established in 1997, has been to the forefront in highlighting awareness of the disorder through public meetings and engaging with policymakers and education professionals.
However, Ms Allen says the group is frustrated by the “total lack of progress” in successfully treating the disorder, particularly through early intervention.
“Our campaigning work led to the production of a universally praised Oireachtas report on the problems of ADD in 1999. Despite the publication of this major report, nothing has changed in the last 10 years,” she claimed.
“We are particularly frustrated by the total lack of progress in successfully treating this neurological condition, especially by means of early intervention. In the midwest region, a family will have to wait for at least a year before their child will be seen by a child psychiatrist. Even worse, the waiting time for an educational assessment can be as long as five years,” she continued.
The importance of early intervention to successfully treat ADD is to be highlighted at the conference, which takes place at Carlton Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick next month. Experts from the US and the United Kingdom will speak at the event and relate how progress has been made in identifying the condition.
The conference will take place on October 10th next and will be chaired by John Lonergan, governor of Mountjoy Prison.
“We have invited internationally respected experts from the US and the United Kingdom to share their experiences with us so that we can convince Irish policymakers and the professionals who shape and implement policy in this area that there are tried and tested means of successfully tackling this problem,” explained Ms Allen.
“We believe that the use of resources in this way would prove to be cost-effective and prevent greater expenditure in the longer term. We would hope that this message will have a special resonance at a time when our national leaders are overhauling our national expenditure policies,” she added.
The keynote speakers at the conference are; Dr Geoff Kewley, consultant paediatrician, The Learning Neurocare Centre (UK); Wendy Richardson addiction expert, California; and Dr David J Carey, a consultant psychologist from the US who now practises in Dublin.