THE announcement health bosses are revamping the way they assess children with autism in the county to try and drastically cut the more-than-a-year wait for a diagnosis, is welcome news.
For too long a number of children who have or may have autism, have been left undiagnosed.
The average waiting time from referral to diagnosis for young people with autism in Worcestershire is currently 14 months.
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Things need to change, this waiting time needs to reduce.
About 700,000 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum, and there are likely to be many more undiagnosed.
Also, as the figures say five times as many males as females are diagnosed, you have to guess many undiagnosed will be females.
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It is crucial to end the 'autism wait' as early as possible, as diagnosis mean intervention can quickly happen.
"It all made sense when we found out we were autistic," - I have seen that phrase used many times.
The latest announcement is hopefully a step in the right direction.
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