CAMHS referral closed without seeing my DS

[WoIsMe]

My 14-year-old DS1 (who has Aspergers and ADHD) has been threatening suicide at school, at home and at clubs. He was referred to CAMHS for support. Today I received a letter stating the following:

^"The referral has been reviewed by a clinician and the outcome is outlined below.

[The] CCG has not commissioned post diagnosis treatment for children with Neuro behavioural difficulties. We will now close this referral to CAMHS."^

Can anyone help me understand what this means? Does it mean my son cannot be treated for feeling suicidal because he has a diagnosed behavioural difficulty? His Aspergers and ADHD are reasonably well managed and aren't directly related to him saying he wants to commit suicide because he's being bullied at school.

I'm really sorry to read this, I'm sure you'll get some more knowledgeable and useful advice but if you have the time to investigate and possibly do battle it might be worth contacting
PALS - could they help you make a complaint?
Samaritans/Childline - have they got a befriending service?

National Autistic Society - any advice at all about how to handle it plus list of private counsellors if you could consider that.
Local MP/Councillor, an MPs letter can sometimes work wonders.
Jessica Kingsley publishers also publish lots of books about autism and I think there's a good one by a teenage lad, Luke Jackson, 'Freaks, Geeks and Aspergers Syndrome' which might be worth a read.

Good luck and solidarity.

It means the criteria to access Camhs services excludes children with difficulties relating to Autism & ADHD.

My PCT has the same policy.

What help does your son access?
Is he medicated for the ADHD?
Mainstream or Special school? What are school doing to support your son?
EHCplan?

I agree, Camhs now excludes these. Disgraceful. But why are we surprised?

Is he under care of CAMHS for review if he is medicated for his ADHD? If so, suicidal thoughts and depression can be a side effect of medication, so I'd be pushing for an appt with his nurse.

You need to complain loudly about this. It is effectively disability discrimination.

This blog post sums it up better than I could:
here

My understanding of this is..

• camhs aren't commissioned (paid or able) to see children following diagnosis of ADHD or ASD (neuro behavioural)

I would be very shocked if they would refuse to see based on DS suicudal thoughts.

I work for camhs and we're not commissioned for ASD as another service does this is our area. If we'd received this referral camhs would assess or joint assess.

I wonder what the referral said. My advice to you would be to call camhs and ask to speak to a clinician and explain to them what's been happening. If there is still no appointment offered call PALS and they can help.

surely they should be assessing whether he is depressed or very anxious? I would insist on a proper explanation and also information about who will support your DS.

CAMHS are commissioned to provide mental health services to all children.

Whether they have ASD or any other disability is neither here nor there.

They can't refuse to treat certain groups of people because they have a disability. That's discrimination.

Unless there's another organisation providing mental health services
specifically to children with neurodevelopmental conditions in your area blossom? And I don't mean ASD diagnosis or or post diagnostic support, I mean specific treatment and therapies for mental illness/distress?

Iamghost in our area there is a lot of joint work as often it is the underlying neurodevelopmental condition that impacts on mental health - for example the link with ASD and anxiety. Meaning you can't see either in isolation. its not clear whether OPs area has another service or whether they offer no follow up to ASD and ADHD. Irrespective of this there needs to be an assessment of DS mental health and I can't see why this wouldn't be a role for camhs.

I'm a CAMHS clinician.
CAMHS may well not be commissioned to provide post diagnosis support for children with ASD, but they should still respond where there may be concerns around the child's mental state including around the possibility of suicide risk.
Did the referral make it clear that your DS has been saying he feels suicidal?
I recommend that you ring CAMHS and challenge this - point out that your DS is threatening suicide. He should be seen in this instance.

Write back to CAMHS, copying the CCG and your MP, send registered post.

Thank you for your letter confirming that CAMHS is not commissioned by the CCG to provide post diagnosis treatment for children with neuro behavioural difficulties. Please advise to whom my son should therefore be referred in relation to his suicidal feelings and outline to me the statutory instrument that prevents a child from receiving support for suicide feelings when they also have neuro behavioural difficulties.

I look forward to receiving this information within five working days and trust you will also advise why the referral was not immediately passed onto those who are responsible for providing support.

Send it to the CAMHS CEO and Chair of the CCG. You could also make an appointment to see your MP at one of his or her local surgeries.

Oh and apt with snr partner at your GP surgery - take,the letter with you and ask what you shoukd do next.

CAMHS will do anything to avoid doing anything in my experience.

What a nightmare. MH problems should be treated regardless of any other diagnosis. Children with ASD are at a higher risk than others of MH difficulties - treating these is NOT post diagnostic support - it is simply the treatment of MH problems. Would they say "sorry we don't treat children with one leg"?

here is some more information that may help: itmustbemum.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/we-wont-treat-your-childs-mental-health-problems-they-are-typical-in-autism/