Scotland's first summit on neurodevelopmental support will take
place on Monday 15 December.
The event will bring together people from clinical services,
education, local government, academia and policy.This will
support a shared discussion on how Scotland can improve access
to, and the availability of, neurodevelopmental support.
The aim of the discussion is to work towards ensuring
neurodivergent people get the right help at the right time,
ensuring consistent support, assessment, and diagnosis, where
required.
Mental Wellbeing Minister , who is chairing the summit,
said:
"Demand for assessment and support has risen sharply, putting
pressure on health, education and social care services. Too many
families are waiting too long for help.
"Our system must change so people get support based on what they
need, not how long they wait for a
diagnosis. We're making progress through our work with
COSLA and the Children and Young People's Neurodevelopment
Taskforce, and we've invested
an additional £500,000 this year to improve access to
care.
“But we must go further. Real change comes from us all working
together. My aim is that the summit gives us a stronger shared
understanding of what needs to change and a collective
determination to make that happen.”
Background
Neurodevelopmental conditions include autism and ADHD. There
has been a large increase in the number of people seeking
neurodevelopmental support, assessment and diagnosis in recent
years. This is creating significant pressure on a number of
services, with long waiting lists being held by health boards for
diagnostic assessments.
Children and Young People's Neurodevelopmental Support
The National Neurodevelopmental
Specification: Principles and Standards of Care for Children and
Young People specifies the standards that all children's
services should follow to ensure access to support is effective
and consistent across Scotland.
The Scottish Government, in partnership with COSLA, has
undertaken a review of the implementation of
the National Neurodevelopmental Specification which will
inform improvements to support health boards and local
authorities to deliver the Specification.
We have also set up a new Children and Young People's
Neurodevelopment Taskforce to drive forward these improvements,
and are providing an additional £500,000 funding this year to
enhance the support available to children and families. The
Taskforce has now met twice, in October and December 2025.
Adult Neurodevelopmental Support
We fund the National Autism Implementation Team, which is
currently supporting NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign
existing local adult neurodevelopmental services.
We have launched the next phase of our £2.5m multi-year Autistic
Adult Support Fund, which aims to help autistic adults understand
what neurodivergence means for them and improve their wellbeing.
We continue to fund NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the
National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to deliver
professional learning on neurodevelopmental conditions.
