New PN MP Shares Message From Parent About Exaggerated Delays At Child Development Assessment Unit
New Nationalist MP Alex Borg has urged the health authorities to address the situation at the Child Development Assessment Unit, warning that children are being made to wait up to a year to start occupational therapy sessions.
Borg shared a message he received from a parent who said they ended up resorting to the private sector because the CDAU kept their child on the waiting list for around five months.
“They took a year to call my nephew in and my child has been waiting for five months and counting,” the message reads. “I didn’t stay waiting and decided to go to the private sector, and in the space of a month I’ve already spent around €1,300 on occupational therapist assessments and sessions due to CDAU delays.”
“Thank God I can afford it, but what about those who can’t? Do they have to see their children regressing while watching on hopelessly? Why are there these delays in the CDAU when they know that problems are increasing?”
Borg urged the government and Opposition to work hand in hand to solve the problem, noting that time is of the essence when it comes to children’s development.
The CDAU provides occupational therapy to children with autism, ADHD, learning difficulties, developmental difficulties and other limitations and difficulties.
This isn’t the first time delays within the CDAU were flagged by a politician. Last year, then PN MP David Thake warned that children cannot afford to lose a year of therapy.
“We need to address their difficulties in the first five or six years. If we miss that time window, then we’ve lost them,” he said in Parliament.
Do you have experience with the CDAU? Let us know in the comment section or by reaching out to us on [email protected]
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