Hi,

That appears to be a problem because of the lack of specialists in the area. Online consultation and later appointments at a higher center would solve this problem.

Diagnosis of developmental or mental health conditions, particularly in children and adolescents, is not a once-for-all affair. Since this clinical population lies on a developmental plane, the dynamics of their diagnostic labels and conditions can change over time. For example, the symptom presentation of receptive-expressive speech delay between 0 and 3 years in a child. This condition may change into an academic delay by 4-6 years, and with increasing grade discrepancies by 7-9 years, it could start to manifest as problem behaviors and still later as disorders of adjustment, conduct, and emotion, until a sizeable portion of them turn into juvenile delinquents or emotional behavior disorders. As empirical research has shown, the road map of this child psychopathology may be: ESD→RD →WD → AD → PB →?ADD/ASD →AT RISK →AD → ED → JD.

Reference:

Venkatesan, S., & Purusotham, P. (2006). Historical analysis of the course and clinical presentations of children with learning disabilities in India. Disabilities and Impairments, 21(2): 99–107. ISSN: 0970-356X.

Venkatesan, S. (2017). Diagnostic decision tree for a specific learning disability. International Journal of Education and Psychological Research, 6, 2, 121–127. ISSN: 2279-0179

The variation in the time for diagnosing autism or other developmental disorders is influenced by a combination of factors related to the presentation of symptoms, access to and availability of professionals, resources of the neurodevelopmental center, and the proactivity of the parents. Improving the efficiency of screening processes and increasing the availability of specialists are important steps to reduce disparities in diagnosis times.