Scottish autism and ADHD assessment backlog leads to family crisis and safety concerns

A Perth mother has warned of the dangers posed by Scotland’s lengthy wait times for autism and ADHD assessments, highlighting escalating family crises and regional disparities amid rising demand and underinvestment.

A Perth mother has warned that Scotland’s long waits for autism and ADHD assessments are leaving families in crisis, after her six-year-old daughter became so distressed that police were called to the home.

Stephanie McDowell said her child, who has suspected autism and ADHD, was eventually diagnosed privately after repeated difficulty getting an NHS assessment. She said the situation escalated over the past year to the point where the family feared for everyone’s safety, with the child trying to run away, climb out of a bedroom window and dash on to busy roads.

Her account comes as fresh data underline the scale of the backlog. A Scottish Parliament research briefing published in June 2025 said about 42,530 children were waiting for neurodevelopmental assessments across Scotland, with an average wait of 76 weeks and the longest waits reaching 342 weeks. A separate July 2026 review by Caledonian Psychiatry put the figure for children at roughly 42,300 as of March 2025, while a Scottish Liberal Democrat report in April 2026 said 46,028 children were waiting and that waits in most health boards were now more than 500 days.

Campaigners say the problem is not just growing demand but years of underinvestment. Suzi Martin of National Autistic Society Scotland said assessment is essential because it does far more than confirm a diagnosis: it helps families understand a child’s needs, rules out other conditions and can unlock support. Recent NHS data compiled by ADHD Scot also show sharp regional differences, with only five of Scotland’s 14 health boards able to provide adult ADHD waiting times in August 2026 and some areas reporting waits of well over 100 weeks.

Families under pressure are increasingly turning to charities and community spaces for help while they wait. In Dundee, the Yard is seeing rising demand from parents seeking support for children whose needs are not being met through the system. Service manager Gill Thomson said the centre now works with about 190 families, but believes that still only scratches the surface.

Responsibility for cutting waiting times sits with the minister for mental wellbeing, Maree Todd, who said the workforce could not be rebuilt overnight but insisted a pathway was being developed to improve access. NHS Tayside said it could not comment on an individual case, but said referrals are assessed under national guidance and that children whose main issue is ADHD are directed into a separate neurodevelopmental support pathway rather than CAMHS. For McDowell, the issue is urgent and practical: without a diagnosis, she said, children cannot access ADHD medication, which is why assessment before crisis matters.