A TERRIFIED mother had to lobby for nine years to get her child diagnosed with autism despite him threatening to kill himself and her “screaming out” for help.

Systematic failings, exasperatingly long waiting lists and a refusal to give a second opinion left Beth Burton unable to get her son, Michael, the treatment he needed for his mental health problems.

Michael, now 15, is unable to go to mainstream school and sometimes can’t leave the house in what is one of the worst cases the Evening Mail has uncovered since launching our Healthy Young Minds campaign this summer.

At the height of Michael’s struggle, he threatened suicide twice when he was just eight and nine years old respectively.

On the first occasion Ms Burton found a distraught Michael on the kitchen floor holding a knife to his neck and was forced to coach him to hand over the blade.

On the second occasion she discovered him with a power drill to his head.

Despite raising the alarm and pressing for a comprehensive autism assessment, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Cumbria (Camhs) blocked her move for a second opinion over a diagnosis with specialists in Newcastle.

She says the failings and the lack of early intervention have left her son “broken”.

Ms Burton, 38, of Suffolk Street, Barrow, said: “They just kept saying nothing was wrong with him. It wasn’t just one person.

“I was screaming out for help. They get you to the point where you start questioning yourself. But I knew something seriously was wrong.

“They have broken him. They tried to make him do what everybody did and he couldn’t cope.

“Late intervention is useless.”

Michael was assessed for autism when he was four-years-old, and the results came back as “inconclusive” but with “definite traits”.

Over the following years, Ms Burton repeatedly pressed for another comprehensive autistic spectrum assessment and a recognition that Michael had serious accompanying mental health issues.

It wasn’t until 2013 - nine years later - that he was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as well as anxiety and depression after a locum psychiatrist newly appointed to Michael’s case urgently ordered a review.

A report in 2013 found Ms Burton “consistently reported” symptoms which should have warranted a further assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder during this time.

The National Autistic Society says the case has thrown into doubt whether all professionals in Cumbria have the ability to spot autism in children.

Autism diagnosis in the county is carried out by multi-agency assessment teams, but they are managed by the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

A spokeswoman for the trust, who stated improvements in the way children with autism are assessed and diagnosed have been made within Cumbria since 2013, said: “We can confirm that we received an official complaint from Ms Burton in March 2013 into which we responded in April 2013.

"In our letter, we expressed our sincere apologies for the unacceptable delay in providing a service - we reiterate the apology again and will be making contact with Ms Burton again to discuss with her directly.”

But Ms Burton describes the apology as hollow as she says she was vilified for her persistence in securing an assessment and refusing to take no for an answer.

Walking in on her son as he threatened to kill himself still haunts her to this day.

She said: “I found him on the kitchen floor with a knife to his jugular. He told me that he couldn’t be here anymore. He was broken and the only way to fix it was for him to die.

“The second time I found him with a power drill. I said to him: ‘you are going to start drawing me pictures of what you are feeling.’”

Ms Burton has experienced hair loss due to the stress the whole situation continues to cause.

After researching the condition, she believes Michael displayed clear autistic symptoms from the beginning, including an attachment to routine and an aversion to certain noises, situations and textures.

She said: “He hated dinner halls due to the noise. He didn’t like school, there were too many classrooms. It made him very ill.

“He dug a hole in my wall because he liked the noise of the concrete crunching in his mouth.”

Mental health services for children in Cumbria have come under scrutiny - there are two vacant psychiatrist posts at Camhs in south Cumbria, professionals are dealing with unprecedented demand, and local charity Self-harm Awareness for All (SAFA) claims it is helping many young people let down by the NHS through talking therapies in Barrow.

Calls have been made for an overhaul of local services and the Care Quality Commission is currently undertaking a routine inspection of CPFT.

Michael is now receiving medication and sees a psychiatrist every three to six months, although Ms Burton claims this is rarely the same person and he ends up having to “re-explain everything to them every single time”.

Ms Burton’s motivation for speaking out about the poor care her son received is to stop it ever happening again.

She said: “I don’t want any child to go through what Michael has gone through.

“He could have been in a normal school with the right help. We wouldn’t have had the suicide attempts.

“He practically had a nervous breakdown. It was horrific.

“Things could have been very different if somebody listened.”

The full statement by CPFT reads:  “Since 2013, a great deal of work has been undertaken to improve the assessment and diagnosis of autism so that children being referred for assessment are diagnosed sooner and appropriate support can be recommended. 

"Access to assessment and diagnosis has improved although we would like it to be better for the care of our children and young people. 

“The assessment and diagnosis of autism is currently the responsibility of a multi-agency assessment team (MAAT) managed by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. 

“It is made up of specialist children’s staff including community paediatricians, speech and language therapists and has contributions from schools, nurseries and other agencies who have regular contact with the child. “Specialist Camhs input is occasionally required where symptoms lead to significant mental health problems. 

“NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group has submitted a plan which will mean further investment in Camhs in the county. It has yet to be approved by NHS England. 

“The plan is wide ranging and will look at early intervention and strategies for families of children and young people who display early onset of challenging behaviours and a nurse led strategy to deliver improved services for children and young people with ADHD and autism.”

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