The Gibraltar Government has published “pathways” for children with neurodevelopmental conditions on Wednesday, in a move supported by the Opposition, that aims to provide tailored support to parents seeking help.
The pathway documents provide route maps for parents explaining the help available in assessing their children locally through various bodies including the GHA, the Care Agency, the Department of Education, and Disability Services.
A generic document on neurodevelopmental conditions was published, as well as a pathway specific to autism.
The published pathways are targeted at children and youngsters from birth to 19 years of age.
“It’s meant to be a guide for parents as to where to go to get the help that they need for their children,” the Minister for Health, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said.
“The neurodevelopmental pathway is an umbrella pathway for all the neurodevelopmental conditions that can sit underneath it.”
“It’s a more generic document that sets out the different conditions and sets out the different avenues that parents have in order to try and get their children assessed.”
“We then have a specific autism spectrum pathway which guides parents who think that their children, or who have been informed that their children, might be on the autism spectrum.”
The Government has committed to issuing another detailed pathway about ADHD, in line with the document issued on autism.
With such issues vital to many in the community, Ms Arias-Vasquez said the documents had been reviewed by the GSD’s Joelle Ladislaus and Atrish Sanchez prior to publication.
“They have reviewed these documents, they have confirmed that they’re happy with these documents because, as we know as a community, we are working on this, not on political lines, but to achieve an end,” she said.
“These pathways are not just pieces of paper; they are hugely important for children and families navigating the complexities of neurodevelopmental conditions.”
In attendance at the initiative’s launch were Jenny Victory, Head of the Supported Needs and Disability Office, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Bettadapura Ashim, and Consultant Paediatrician Dr Montserrat Doukrou.
The three experts emphasised that, when it comes to youngsters with neurodevelopmental conditions, no child is the same.
They agreed that although some children may have the same diagnosis, the outcomes are always different.
Ms Victory underscored the importance approaching diagnosis from a multi-agency approach.
“You cannot just go down a medical route,” she said.
“In order to properly get a diagnosis or understand what’s happening in the life of the child, you really do need the education system and the care agency on board, as well as obviously the family and friends to actually get a holistic view on what’s actually happening and what the needs are.”
“When you’re looking at a neurodevelopmental condition, it affects all areas of your life, or most areas of your life for some. And it’s very important to have this holistic, person-centred support.”
“It has to be a collective effort,” she added
She said the documents “aim to look at what the needs are and not just make very clear assumptions”.
“We try to explore lots of different avenues in order to get a real generalized and detailed and evidence-based diagnosis.”
Dr Doukrou added that the multi-agency approach also includes therapists and mental health professionals.
“It’s meant to bring us together working with different teams, including the Care Agency and education, but very specifically with therapists and the mental health team, so that we can work together to achieve diagnosis or just to identify the difficulties that children are having and address them appropriately.”
The sentiment was echoed by Dr Ashim, who said “it’s really important that various departments work together to collaborate and do this successfully”.
