Following an educational assessment, my daughter was identified as presenting with ADHD, which we knew, but were told it was just her behaviour.  A referral was put into CYPS to be told the wait would be 16months for the first appointment.

We were desperate, with daily letters and phone calls from school and two school exclusions we sought a diagnosis privately. 

Following the diagnosis, we looked to medicate due to escalating impulsive, dangerous, violent and challenging behaviours, to face another 16 month wait. 
As a family we have been let down and left in crisis to ‘get on with it!’  CYPS crisis teams have never returned our calls and neither have CYPS, only telling us to phone the police! 

Our story is by no means an isolated case and we need such services to be funded to meet the needs of these children. Early identification is the key to early treatment and better outcomes for our children, yet they continue to be failed by the system! 

Our government is failing families due to lack of funding and inevitably costs more longer term for these children to go undiagnosed and ending up in specialist provisions, with costly support packages, in trouble with the law , in prison or worse! 
Something has to change!