PARENTS of children with ADHD and autism have warned that Jersey’s overstretched support system is leaving vulnerable pupils isolated, excluded and at risk of “falling through the cracks” as families battle long waits for specialist help.
In a letter published by the JEP yesterday, special educational needs teachers across the Island warned that the revised mental-health referral process was placing “excessive and unmanageable demand” on schools and forcing educational staff to take on responsibilities that should sit with health professionals.
This newspaper also revealed that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service has suspended all new requests for children to begin ADHD medication because the service is operating at “full capacity”.
Among those affected is Lauren McShane, who said she was “devastated” to learn her son could now face further delays accessing pharmaceutical treatment ahead of his move to secondary school – despite already having a formal ADHD diagnosis.
She explained that her child had struggled with behavioural and concentration difficulties since reception, and was repeatedly labelled a “naughty kid” before being diagnosed with ADHD last year following an 18-month wait for assessment.
At the time, Ms McShane decided against ADHD medication for her son because she felt he was still young and hoped school support would improve.
But she said his difficulties had worsened significantly ahead of the Year 6 SATs and his transition to secondary school.
“He’s been struggling much more in school, especially with SATs coming up and the move to secondary school, so we decided we wanted to trial medication to help support him,” she explained.
But, when she went to CAMHS, Ms McShane said she was told a completely new referral would be needed because “too much time” had passed since her son’s ADHD diagnosis.
“This was never explained to us at the original appointment,” she said. “It’s so frustrating because he already has the diagnosis – we’re not asking to start from scratch, just to access support that we now feel he needs.”
Her experience mirrors concerns raised by Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators, who warned that children are facing “unavoidable delays” before referrals can even be submitted and could wait close to two years from initial concerns to receiving specialist assessment and support.
Ms McShane said she now feels “left in limbo” while waiting for the referral process to restart, with no indication of how long it could take.
“Now we’re facing another long wait at a really important stage in his education,” she said. “It honestly feels like children fall through the cracks unless parents know exactly how the system works from day one.”
She added: “It’s such a frustrating waste of time. A lot of parents put off medication unless things are really affecting their child, but by the time support actually comes through, they’re already struggling.
“We’d hoped to trial medication over the summer so he’d be more settled and prepared before starting secondary school, but it’s looking like that won’t even be possible now.”
Her fears intensified after learning that CAMHS has now suspended all new requests to start ADHD medication because the service is operating at “full capacity”.
“I’m just devastated,” she said. “I’m worried about my son and his future now, because there’s medication that can help support him, and he’s not able to get it.
“I’m worried that he’ll get to secondary school and be so overwhelmed and that he won’t even be able to go.”
Another parent, Mandy Mansell, echoed concerns raised in the letter – which outlined how delays in assessment and support were contributing to worsening mental health, school anxiety, placement breakdowns and increased risk of exclusion among vulnerable children.
She believes that support for her son, who has autism and ADHD, has become increasingly focused on managing his behaviour rather than integrating him into school life.
“He went from being a child who joined in with everybody to spending most of his day in a separate room,” she said.
In their letter, SENCos said schools were now expected to oversee intervention programmes, gather clinical evidence and manage referral systems despite being “educators” rather than “clinical co-ordinators”.
“I would say that the schools are trying to manage very complex needs without enough specialist support around them,” said Ms Mansell.
“I don’t think the intervention is early enough – there are delays in this.
“The staff on the ground really care about the kids that they’re working with, but they are under-resourced.”
She added that the absence of timely specialist input had contributed to her son becoming increasingly anxious and isolated.
“I tried to tell them two years ago that segregating him into a little room – so that he can’t tolerate any noise, any light, any activity from other children – is disabling him,” she said.
“His world has become so small he will not allow anybody into his little room.”
Ms Mansell said that schools lacked the specialist expertise and support needed to properly manage complex neurodevelopmental conditions, echoing concerns raised in the letter that trust between parents and schools could break down when families felt their concerns were not properly heard.
“These children need to have multi‑agency support, and the schools need to listen to parents,” she said.
The Education Department said it was taking the concerns raised by school staff seriously and would speak directly with schools to better understand the issues identified.
