Zizi Sparks: Urgent focus needed on children with developmental issues

While the average wait time for early intervention for children with developmental issues or disabilities has lowered, more needs to be done. Photo / Getty Images

There is no excuse for the wait for help children with developmental issues are experiencing.

Ensuring every child has the support and tools they need to learn should be a priority.

This week, we spoke with parents of children with developmental issues who said their children were "falling through the cracks" at school.

One advocate estimated about 80 per cent of about 1500 Bay of Plenty families with children with developmental issues had issues with the education system.

One caregiver said, in her view, teachers were "not trained and don't have the time" to identify issues and create individualised plans that are crucial for educating children with developmental issues.

Another parent said she knew her daughter was autistic by 18 months old but she did not get diagnosed until five years later.

And figures show the average wait time in the region for early intervention for children with developmental issues or disabilities is 82 days.

It is not all bad news.

The Ministry of Education acknowledged the wait times for early intervention were "unacceptably high" and it has been working to make them lower.

Wait times have dropped from 123 in 2019.

But while that's a significant drop, it is still too long to wait for help and equates to almost a whole school term.

A child's first few years of life and of school are formative and it is unfair some children start on the back foot due to delays in getting the help they need and deserve.

I don't think the lack of early help is a teacher's fault either. Often teachers may be looking after up to 30 children or more at a time and not have the time or expertise to cater to every child's need.

More support, and earlier, will help.

This Government is known for its focus on child poverty and, so far, the actions it has taken to address this seem to be working.

This time last year Stats NZ figures showed 18,400 children had been lifted out of poverty in the previous year. Seven out of nine child poverty measures had improved.

But it also needs to address child wellbeing as a whole, and that includes helping those with developmental issues.

While the ministry has made a good start at reducing waiting times, more needs to urgently be done and before more children fall behind.