Children facing two-year wait for ADHD diagnosis

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This article was published 13/11/2023 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A cross-country shortage of child psychologists has led to students in Manitoba waiting up to two years for an ADHD diagnosis.

Karen Velthuys, executive director of the Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba, said wait times are up to two years for children to be assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities through their school psychologists.

For families who can afford to go to a private child psychologist, the wait can be six months to a year and the assessment for conditions such as ADHD or dyslexia can cost $1,600 to $3,000. The wait worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Waiting that long is a challenge when parents are trying to make sure their child is set up for success in the school system.

“There’s this unknown for families,” Velthuys said, saying she works with youth who are dealing with low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence because their brains work differently.

“When we don’t get those assessments, mental health starts to deteriorate as well.”

The official assessment and diagnosis is usually the key to receiving specific resources in school, Velthuys added. “It’s kind of a delicate balance for families, because until you have a diagnosis, you don’t really have the teeth to say, ‘This is what my child needs.’”

Wait times for ADHD and neurodivergent assessment services under the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority are several months and can exceed a year, according to data provided to the Free Press.

In her clinical practice treating adults, Dr. Julia Riddell sees the mental cost of limited access to learning disability assessments earlier in life. “What happens is, you have adults and youth who have internalized this idea that they’re not good at school.”

That’s not true, said Riddell, who is a registered clinical psychologist in private practice.

“They just need the right supports in place. It’s important that they don’t get turned off from learning and don’t internalize messages about themselves being less-than,” Riddell added, saying about 60 per cent of people with ADHD also have anxiety and depression.

“That’s really coming from being a neurodiverse person in a system that doesn’t support and isn’t set up for them.”

The wait times for adult and youth ADHD assessments at the private clinic where Riddell works range from three to six months.

Increasing access to psychology and mental health services in the public system should be prioritize and not seen as an “add-on” service, she said, noting there is no publicly funded option in Manitoba for adults seeking ADHD assessments.

The province also lacks support for adults and youth with autism, Riddell said. These are the people who often seek private psychology appointments because they’re realizing they may be neurodiverse and can’t get treatment in the public system.

“We need a cultural shift, really, at the provincial and federal levels, to see health in a more holistic way,” she said.

The wait and cost in Manitoba matches up with national queues of up to two years and $1,000-$4,000 for a private assessment, according to the Toronto-based Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada.

The centre’s founder, Heidi Bernhardt, said the dearth of child and adolescent psychiatrists and psychologists has been ongoing for decades.

“It’s still the No. 1 issue, and it’s not just the lack of them to assess, it’s also the lack of having them to be able to treat and do follow-up. Once you get the assessment, that’s step one,” she said.

“Sometimes, we can get people assessed, but then we can’t get follow up care.”

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com