"Missing out on crucial early intervention"

My son in his early teens was referred to Camhs to help with a severe breakdown. He was appointed a key worker for CBT. This person never informed us when he was feeling suicidal. He attended an all boy school and never had an opportunity to mix with girls, because of this the key worker suggested to me he may be gay! As they felt it was strange for him not to know any girls .

It was felt my son was on the  Autism spectrum but the key worker took him of the waiting list and felt he wasn’t, yet had no training in diagnosing Autism and in fact said my daughter wasn’t on the spectrum when in fact she was . For my daughter being misdiagnosed meant she missed out on crucial early intervention  which then resulted in an urgent referral to Camhs when she was 11, because of her mental health .  At this stage she was then diagnosed as being on the spectrum. Her life could have been so much easier if she had been correctly diagnosed earlier.

This key worker felt my daughter at a very early age who had selective mutism and who presented the same as her eldest brother who had a diagnosis of Aspergers was copying his behaviours!! Yet still this member of staff was allowed to decide if a child was on the spectrum!

My teenage son has also now missed out on support and intervention because the key worker felt they knew better. We took him to a private practitioner where he was given a diagnosis of Asd ,PDA and Add, but this was too late for his education and life skills.

I constantly told them of my concerns and because of my suspicions I felt he wouldn't benefit from CBT due to processing information differently. They didn’t listen . He has missed out on crucial help and we feel that they failed him .