Island SEN group says ADHD and autism assessment restrictions confirm gatekeeping fears.
Isle of Wight SEN Support says the gatekeeping it warned about has arrived, after the Guardian reported that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board has restricted ADHD and autism assessments to patients who meet its priority criteria.
The Guardian’s report, published on 24th September 2026, looked at waiting times for ADHD and autism assessments across integrated care boards in England.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight among them.
The report states,
“This month, in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, assessment for ADHD and autism has been restricted to those patients who meet the ICB’s priority criteria.”
Fears raised over the new pathway
The group researched proposed changes to the pathway for autistic children and young people and those with ADHD, including the introduction of the Neurodiversity Team and the Neurodiversity Profiling Tool.
One of its biggest concerns, the group says, was “the potential for these changes to become a form of gatekeeping, limiting who could access a diagnostic assessment”.
“We raised these concerns repeatedly.
“We were reassured by those in positions of responsibility that our fears were unfounded and that the new pathway would not become a barrier to diagnosis.”
Group wants to know what has changed
Its verdict on the Guardian’s findings runs to four words.
“Yet here we are.”
They add,
“This is precisely the kind of outcome we were concerned about.”
The group says those responsible need to take concerns from parents and professionals about pathway changes seriously, particularly where access to assessment and diagnosis for children and young people is at stake.
And it wants answers.
“The question now is: what has changed, why has it changed, and what does this mean for children and families who do not meet these ‘priority’ criteria?”
OnTheWight contacted the ICB for a response on Friday (25th September). At time of publishing (29th September) they had failed to answer the four questions put to them.
