Disabled children 'left undiagnosed'

Some children with learning difficulties are not being identified as being intellectually disabled until they are 16 years old, if at all, a Nelson child psychotherapist says.

Nelson Marlborough child and adolescent mental health services psychiatrist Joe Babinski said each year he saw three or four children aged 14 to 16 who had been referred for behavioural or mental health problems who were found to have intellectual disabilities.

These children were the "tip of the iceberg" and it was possible that many intellectually disabled children were never identified, he said.

Dr Babinski spoke at a public forum at the New Zealand Association of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists conference in Nelson Thursday night that aimed to identify gaps in services.

He said there were services available for intellectually disabled children but to qualify for them a child had to be assessed by a clinician.

"It puts young people and their families in a catch-22."

Someone, either a parent, the child's school or another social service had to suspect the child might be disabled before they would ask for testing to be done.

Dr Babinski said if intellectual disability was a person's primary problem, that excluded them from child and adolescent mental health service help. He would sometimes be referred children with behavioural and emotional problems that had been underachieving at school and find they had an intellectual disability.

He advocated screening at an early age for all children to help identify intellectual disability early.

In the United States, children were tested for intellectual disabilities early and their rights were protected by law, he said.

Principal adviser to the children's commissioner, Nicola Atwool, who also spoke at the conference, said if laws on the rights of intellectually disabled children were introduced, there would be an obligation to test children before they started school.

However, the Government had introduced a "before school check" which should increase the chance of identifying intellectual disabilities at an early age, she said.

Dr Atwool said the 23 percent of New Zealand children who lived in poverty were even more at risk of not having intellectual disabilities identified as their parents were less likely to be assertive. There were sometimes also lower educational expectations of children from poorer households.

Meanwhile, the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board is reviewing its child and youth health services as part of the development of a district-wide plan.

Public meetings to discuss services are being held in Nelson on Tuesday from 2pm at Nelson Hospital's Dalton House, and on November 2 in Takaka from 11am at the Aubergine Cafe and in Motueka from 4pm at Community House.

- © Fairfax NZ News