Netherlands law limits children’s access to autism services

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About four years ago in Groningen, a city in the north of the Netherlands, a teenager with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder began acting out at school. The boy’s family appealed to the local government to get him a psychological assessment. But the officials told the family that rather than “medicalizing” his problems, they should turn to their social network, specifically a neighbor who “seems like a lovely lady,” for support.

Three months later, says clinical psychologist Inge van Balkom, who narrated this incident, the boy’s behavior problems had worsened significantly.

The law, which went into effect in January 2015, put the budget for ‘youth care,’ which includes mental health and autism services, at the discretion of local governments. Because some local governments are less well organized and funded than others, they have chosen to significantly shrink the mental health services they offer children, putting these children’s health and safety at risk.

“Children [in the Netherlands] no longer have a right to mental health care,” says van Balkom, medical director of youth mental health and autism at Lentis Psychiatric Institute in Groningen. “I always thought this was a civilized country, but I do have doubts now.”