By Professor John Robertson
BBC Reporting Scotland today have a story not being covered by the BBC Scotland website:
Long waits for diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD ‘s ‘harmful’ particularly for children. That’s according to the Scottish Liberal Democrats who obtained wait list figures through a Freedom of Information request.
The report goes on to ‘cherry pick’ extreme examples of the kind we all know there will be complex reasons for, over and above any supposed staff shortages, and require a Scottish Government response to a problem entirely the responsibility of a health board.
The report does not, of course, tells us the news. We need to hear what the trends are, in terms of numbers being reported and being seen within targets, before having a more meaningful, intelligent, response.
This item, fed to the Pacific Quay staff by a friend in the Lib Dems is another example of a propaganda service, at licence fee-payers expense.
The story was also fed to STV who have reported more fully under the same tabloid heading:
Patient waited more than four years for diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorder
At the very end of the STV report after 2 extreme cases, including the one BBC Scotland did, have been fully enjoyed but not fully explored for explanations as to why this small number of cases has taken so long, we do get:
It comes as the number of ASN pupils has more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, going from 118,011 youngsters to 241,639 – with students with additional needs now making up more than a third (34.2%) of school pupils.
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/patient-waited-more-than-four-years-for-diagnosis-of-neurodevelopmental-disorder
So 2 out of nearly a quarter of a million wait a very long time for treatment, 0.0008%.
The Lib Dumbs have previous.
Back in 2022, based on another FOI, they added up baby death numbers over several years to get a bigger one and hid the improving trend which I had to dig for. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46329733
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
The LibDems are the cause of the problem. The ConDems cut £6Billion a year from education from 2010+. From 2015 Cut £54Billion. The LibDems Clegg betrayed the students and put up massive fees. The Scottish Gov has to mitigate the cuts. The LibDems are responsible for the delays. Totally they are to blame.
Medical science in the last 10 years have improved the diagnosis. The Scottish Gov is doing everything possible to alleviate what the LibDems have caused. The LibDems cut £Billions of funds from Education. Supported and caused austerity.
LibDems are to blame for the situation. Their actions led to 14 years of Tory rule. They are a disgrace. Beyond the pale. Everything they complain about is a result of their irresponsible actions and policies. They are to blame. Clegg now the multimillion representative of Facebook in Europe. Gerrymandering elections and evading tax. A total disgrace. LibDem liars. Total hypocrites.
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There are still people falling through the net. Either not being diagnosed when young or parents now being diagnosed when their children are. It is very complex because it is only in the last ten years of scientific advance that conditions can be realised. It can take longer because it is only through school that the symptoms can become apparent. A child might be diagnosed in primary five or six etc when it becomes more apparent. It takes a while for the traits being realised.
Even the education system is taking a while to evaluate because teachers can be ignorant or uninformed or in denial. So can parents. It takes a while to become apparent. People have to be a bit older to realise their own traits. Things have improved a million times over the last ten years. More information. That is why there can be a wait for diagnostic and treatment. Medicine or pills. Endorphines for the brain. Many highly talented people realising their full partial. Medicine is in short supply at the minute. UK Gov mucked up big time.
Scotland has one of the best education systems worldwide. Being fully supported by the Scottish Gov. Especially when compared to everywhere else. A comprehensive system. Life long learning. The ability to learn not the ability to pay.
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I’m not really sure what the point of the Liberals is any more. They used to be a distinct party, but nowadays seem to be a party for Tories who feel guilty about being Tories.
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The story will of course be a short reprieve from the main topic of the day ..the apparent stand off challenge by JKR over the Gov’s Hate Crime Bill. I guess we wont have long to wait to hear that the Police will not be considering any action against her and by then the media will gleefully be telling us that this is proof the legislation is weak and ineffective with JRK emerging in triumph like a modern day Boudicca. I’m afraid that is life in Scotland.
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There are so many possible reasons for late diagnosis, but this is pretty desperate stuff all the same, even for Ach-Him…
Not in the least surprised by Mis-Reporting Scotland broadcasting it though…
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It has always been an enigma to me why ACH and the Lib Dems, an insignificant presence within Holyrood via the amount of MSP’s and TBH via their weak contributions in any debate, that the BBC and other media often seek out their input and opinions upon Scottish politics and indeed any matters connected to Scotland. (though really I am fully aware of why they are given a media platform…. tis solely down to their eager #SNPBAD rhetoric that is part of a combined political attack together with other opposition parties against the SNP)
Thus one has to assume they, the Lib Dems, are then obviously considered by that same media as ones who are credible, worthy of attention and thus a party that deserves publicity.
YET much of that same media has ignored and failed to report, investigate and publicise a matter that was raised by a former member of their party i.e. Emma Walker against the Lib Dems and too ACH their leader.
The accusations can be found online if one researches her name….and they are serious allegations, and in this ongoing current climate where the #MeToo movement is most topical and relevant, it is inexplicable that Ms Walker’s allegations against her former party and leader were not thought, by that same media, to be worthy of far far more extensive and prolonged publicity and recognition.
The former Chief Executive and Mental Health Spokesperson of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Emma Walker , stated she witnessed and experienced abuse, assault, bullying, racism, sexism, misogyny and cover-ups. She has repeatedly asked for an independent investigation and she has been denied one.
How ironic given we never stop hearing a Lib Dem in Scotland bemoaning the supposed lack of treatment , lack of attention and indeed according to them the neglect of matters concerning Mental Health issues by the Scottish government….yet when tis one of their own who raised a serious matter that she stated has seriously impacted on her Mental health…. they, the Lib Dems, failed to address it as both a serious concern worthy of their attention and investigation….
#AskAlex…which is what she, Emma Walker, promotes via this serious matter.
I know that had a similar and very serious accusation been raised against the SNP and too their leader the media would have feasted upon these revelations for an extended period…..indeed was the former SNP MP Lisa Cameron who inexplicably defected to the Tory party, because of what she stated was “bullying within the SNP WM group”, (obviously oblivious to the many allegations of bullying made against some members (MP’s) of her new chosen party) not one that was extensively, as a matter, extremely well publicised by the media….not just at the time she left the SNP….but 3 days ago The Herald had an interview with her…..where she stated she was ‘Happy’ being a Conservative….though perhaps she recognised others within her constituency would also not be as “happy” as her with her defection, via her decision to defect to the Tories , hence why she chose not to put it to the test in a By-election.
Remember Lisa Cameron left the SNP (defected) last year and via a BIG article on the BBC’s website she cited “She had quit because of a “toxic” culture in the SNP’s Westminster group”…….ah so that was then for her to decide to join another party who one assumes she failed to see the “toxic culture” many people see that is associated with them, the Tory UK government, via their policies, decisions and too their rhetoric that they often spout…..against many of the most vulnerable people in society…..including those who seek Asylum in the UK , that they the Tories (& media), label many as being “illegal migrants” thus, as “illegal” they are then expected to be considered and treated as if less than human…….but reality is they are desperate people who flee persecution and intolerable conditions and who are met with hate and intolerance in what we are supposed to believe is a tolerant, liberal minded, open and welcoming society within Tory Britain…..(Red & Blue)….but in reality is most definitely not.
You see that is the HUGE problem the media in Scotland have….they do not offer or provide any balance in equal coverage given to #BAD stories that they choose to promote that concerns ALL political parties , they seek way too much input for their output via sources from opposition parties to the SNP that is all negative, they platform individuals to unleash negativity against the SNP who, as individuals, we witness their output on Twitter exposing them as anti SNP and anti independence individuals and indeed have been outed as former candidates for an opposition party, they as a media also fail to inform but often instead seek to misinform via misleading headlines and heavily edited and of context quotes that they say were attributed to the SNP, they as a ‘client’ media often mimic the terms used by Tories and other like minded individuals upon those who seek refuge here i.e. “illegal migrants” who are then subjected to a campaign of hostility….and of course we all remember the Nick Robinson infamous incident in 2014 on Salmond where when he, Salmond was asked a Q , and then the BBC news reported that night that Nick Robison stated that “he didn’t answer” that Q……we discovered later a video had come out showing that Salmond DID indeed answer the Q asked of him……so we could add LYING to the evidence and allegations we make against the media.
If anyone thinks the media in their UK is fair, lack bias, honest, trustworthy and indeed does the job it is supposed to do then I suggest perhaps they are really not paying attention…..after all why would people in Scotland have voted in the SNP as their Scottish government for so many many years if the truth was that which the media headline every day in Scotland …..as in #SNPBAD…….does that then make us, in Scotland, too stupid to know how bad we are being supposedly treated by the SNP…or is more a case of we , unlike the media, recognise the many benefits we have because of the SNP compared to other nations within the UK who are governed by other political parties……remember our current suffering is only because we are subjected to UK reserved policies where food prices, energy prices, Mortgage increases and also where we are no longer members of the EU are realities that exist because the Tory UK government fails to act and too they have acted badly, but who also as a government , have only acted in the interests of those who both support and donate to them…..that is the reality…..and remember also it was the Lib Dems who once went into coalition with the Tories in government within the UK who, as a coalition government, imposed austerity measures upon us all…..which was reported to have caused over 330,000 excess deaths in the UK…..perhaps ACH and his party could ponder and reflect over those “Figures”….as in those “figures” that should shame any party in government…..plus their then UK leader Nick Clegg reneged on Tuition fees as part of his party’s unholy alliance with the Tory party….though now we should realise that there is more that unites them, the Lib Dems as a party, than divides them …………..with the Tory party………..#Hypocrites.
Sorry for length of comment…..but I do believe I still have the right to ‘Freedom of speech’ to highlight some home truths.
NMRN
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Sorry O/T
Re the Hate crime and public order (Scotland) Act…. it is being reported that “Rishi Sunak backs JK Rowling in row over Scottish hate crime legislation”…..of course he does as do other like minded people who also oppose everything said and done by the SNP as the Scottish government…..which is a ‘serial’ event…..though considering some of the actions via his government I cannot see his consensus with JKR as being something many would regard as being worthy of noting…..as significant.
Indeed I am sure some individuals see this new Act as an obstacle that will ‘Cramp their (usual) style’ in them being hostile, abusive, hateful , intolerant and offensive to others that they oppose…….just take a minute to look at the world now….the absolute mess it is in…… all of the wars, the hate, the intolerance, rioting, violence, poverty, suffering, famine, injustice, climate change etc…..where many UK politicians and media in this country choose to promote hate against others and who offer no solution, no uniting against or opposition to some of these terrible things that exist in the world….instead we are subjected to insignificant matters that deflect away from serious and significant matters that impact us all……but more so impact the most vulnerable within society and the World.
Soap box serial objectors….platformed to communicate hate , opposition and a succession of sh*te that in the grand scheme of all things bad…..are only fake issues they seek to communicate …..that compared to REAL issues that do exist…..are, as fake issues, of minimal impact to most people…..but do obscure the serious, damaging and significant real issues that do exist.
Hope over Hate is itself not tolerated…..as one is supposed to believe there is always ‘Others’ as in our ‘Enemies’ who exist to stop us from being a better society….reality obvs is that tis those who are intolerant of all progressive policies, and of those they see and refer to as “Others” that has seen the downfall of what is now very much a failing and dysfunctional UK state….that panders to those who are filled with hate and intolerance of those who they see as those who can never identify as being British (some in Scotland) , or indeed can ever, by them, be seen to be or regarded as British (Foreigners aka Migrants to their UK)…..
If ever we needed to fight back against Hate ….well to quote Theresa May “‘”Now is the Time”…….but alas for some tis a case of ‘Never the time’…..you do not win elections in the UK without inciting the existence of (rogue) threats via ‘Others’ and also promoting what Labour is seemingly promoting via Keir Starmer’s as in ‘British jobs for British workers’…..alas too many of those who oppose progress and “Change” sing from the same hateful, isolationist and intolerant hymn sheet…..with a media all too willing to encourage and promote anything and everything that opposes those who they see, as being regarded as those who are categorised as being ‘Others’ within the UK…..that is the SNP and us too who support independence ….and also any who oppose and reject that the UK is Okay…..reality is the UK is anything but Okay…
Pretty much sick of it all TBH…..but not that sick that I will not still speak up against it all………
NMRN
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Hate crime in English law isn’t that different to what’s proposed in Scotland and it’s the Police that are tasked with eh, policing hate crime, just like Scotland. This issue is becoming very GRR in the heat being generated by the media.
Golfnut
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It’s quite obviously orchestrated and being directed via James Cook the Gong-Hunter – As you correctly highlight, it is very much like the GRR propaganda campaign, it would appear to be a case of where Dacre etc failed in Scotland, the ‘establishment’ remain determined to bring Scots ‘to heel’, whilst the English are about to rebel… Comical really….
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HATE TO TELL THE TAX FUNDED PARTY
it cost time and money to fish out these FOI. REQUESTS
but LIEDEMS think nothing of that as the sponge of the taxpayers CONSTANTLY
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