Living in Northern New Jersey about 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan means that I reside in the nation’s capital for pizza and bagels. (Don’t even talk to me, Chicago People, about your pizza.) We also have the best medical care. If you have a serious problem, like colon cancer or a bum ticker, you come here to get it fixed. Yet, these bountiful medical facilities cannot keep up with the pace of autism and ADHD.
With 1 in 36 with autism, there are simply not enough medical personnel to evaluate every one-year old child who is flapping their hands and exhibiting other tell-tale warning signs. When parents call their local neurologist or development pediatrician panicking because their kid isn’t hitting important milestones, they are told that there is a two-year waiting list. Elsewhere in this country, that list is even longer.
On average, children and their families must wait three years from the time of their first concern to an autism assessment, due the overwhelming demands. And that’s not the only bottle neck. Schools can’t keep up with demand either. Just in New York City, more than 700 special needs children do not have access to pre-school, because there aren’t enough seats. Therapists, who help children with anxiety and depression, also have long waitlists. We are facing a tsunami of needs among children in this country, and our medical and education systems are drowning.
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