Letter

                                                                                                     East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                     Queen Elizabeth II Hospital
                                                                                                     Hope Department
                                                                                                     Faith City
                                                                                                     Near Possibly Crushed Heart. 2AN Y1

Parent / Guardian of The Lidster
Wiltshire Towers
The One With The Wonky Hedge
Heart Still Hopeful

Dear Parent / Guardian of Lidster Mad Cow Bonkers Wiltshire

An appointment has been made for The Lid to be seen at Dr Hopehe's Over-Thirty's Clinic at 9:45am in The Clinic We Finally Diagnosed Your Son As Autistic At After Three Years Of Saying He Was Ok.

I have been asked by the health visitor at your SureStart Centre, whom you harangued for a year after being unable to get a named health visitor via your doctor, to see your child at a special appointment where I can spend rather more time with them.  The session may last 1 - 2 hours.  This appointment has needed to be made as your local health system is being bled dry, and thousands of children with learning disabilities are falling through the net.  Of those children on "the cusp", only the parents who continually bother us will have their children seen, and even then it will be a long, uphill struggle for you to get any help.  Said help will only be available once diagnosis is finally made. 

In fact, we are so frightened of being sued, we would rather not give a definite diagnosis, even when we know that your child does have a named condition under the excuse that we don't want to "label" your child.  We will, of course, ignore the fact that without that label, your child will be unable to access vital services that could assist with their development, especially in the early years when that intervention is essential for your child's very survival.

Both parents or guardians are invited to attend but, as usual, Mummy will end up doing it and will then shout at Daddy later when he refuses to understand what is going on as he is, once more, in a state of denial.  You will be expected to carry the burden of diagnosis, acceptance, and do all the work to help your child until we can access funding to assist your child from council coffers.  You should note that, even with a diagnosis in hand, you will be unable to easily get a Statutory Assessment for a Statement of Educational Needs.  You will need to approach various authorities, most of whom are funded by disillusioned individuals who gave up the fight due to previous administrations legislation and enforcement of unnecessary paperwork.

If this appointment fills you with fear; if you secretly hope that this child won't get the diagnosis of autism not through delay but because this one gets to be your mad little cow rather than your mad autistic little cow, however much you pretend that that isn't the case and that actually, it's fine, be aware that you will judge yourself more than we will.

If at all possible, all hopes and dreams should be left at home as shattering may occur if brought to the appointment.

If the diagnosis of autism is not convenient to you, please note that there are mentals out there who believe that your child's disability is through their god's wrath, your badness, or your child being weaker and therefore needing to be removed from society.  Please feel free to treat these people with the contempt that they deserve.

If your heart is on your sleeve where your children are concerned, it may be best to put it in your pocket, but do bring it to the appointment as you may need to shout at us and tell us to do more.  Note that it will be ok, whatever happpens, and that you will continue because someone has to, and that someone is you.

Yours sincerely

Women and Children's Directorate
Children's Services