A REDDITCH mum whose five-year-old son has autism has slammed a county council proposal to refer fewer children for the condition.

Bernadette Louise, aged 36, claims the new system would “cherry pick” who was given an assessment.

The plan was discussed at Worcestershire County Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board earlier this month.

At the meeting, Philippa Coleman, children’s health services commissioner at County Hall told councillors a tighter referral process would speed up the assessments and diagnoses for those children accepted on the autism pathway - the system through which youngsters receive help.

But Mrs Louise, a postgraduate psychology student at University of Worcester, argues the new system could mean giving certain children preferential treatment if their condition is more visible.

She said: “What about the cases who have genuine high functioning, invisible disability that can only be extracted by an expert professional?”

"These are children with individual needs. In what other condition, would it ever be acceptable to not diagnose?

"It is simply unacceptable to put one child’s disability over another, simply because it is too expensive to sustain the current processes in place.”

Mrs Louise is particularly worried about the plan because she was previously wrongly accused of causing significant emotional harm to her son, then three, after saying she believed he had autism.

After months of monitoring by social services, a private clinic diagnosed her son with highly functioning autism with pathological demand avoidance, sensory issues and possible ADHD.

Sarah Wilkins, the council's assistant director for early help and commissioning, said: “It is in the best interests of all children, whether they have an autistic spectrum disorder or not, to receive the support and help they need as soon as possible and this should be based on their presenting needs, not upon a diagnosis.

"The recommendations made after the recent review of the autism pathway aim to do this. Reviews into provision are considered at quarterly meetings held between commissioners and providers involved in the autism pathway."