Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 25 April 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism

Autism Policy (Resumed): Discussion.

Ms Davida Hartman:

It is true that there is a huge occurrence with ADHD and other neurodivergencies. The Adult Autism Practice piloted also assessing for ADHD and would have loved to continue to do so but as a small service, it was not possible at the time. We could not recruit enough psychiatrists. There were various issues, but ideally, I absolutely agree as regards State services, people should not be going to one team to assess for autism and another to look at ADHD. All those neurological co-occurrences should be assessed and looked at by one team.