The Orange District Early Education Program and Wholechild Specialists are combining the talents of about 20 specialist staff to open a multidisciplinary centre in Orange.

The Mind and Body Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment was launched at ODEEP on Tuesday.

ODEEP manager Kylie Streatfeild said it was the first centre in the Central West to offer assessment, diagnosis and evaluation of people with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.

She said other clinics offered treatment in Orange but the assessments had to be done in Sydney which involved multi-day trips for families.

Mrs Streatfeild said autism was increasing in Orange.

“We’ve got 10 referrals and we haven’t even started,” she said.

“It is a growing concern. Waiting times are lengthening.”

Wholechild Specialists director Rowena Roweth said going to the city was often difficult for families as their child reacted to change.

“Even leaving the house in the morning is distressing for them,” she said.

Mrs Roweth said there were waiting lists of 12 months for paediatricians, six months for people needing assessments in Sydney and six to nine months for community health and allied health care.

She said a local service would ease the pressure on families.

“We are working hard to make sure we have very short waiting lists,” she said.

The centre will operate from both ODEEP in Yarrawong Place and Wholechild in Moulder Street.

Mrs Roweth said early diagnosis was important for treating autism.

“There is a growing need, even schools are looking at how they can make the classrooms more adaptive to children with neurodevelopmental needs,” she said.

The centre is aimed at children up to 12 years old however adults will also be assessed on a case by case basis.

Member for Orange Phil Donato said Orange was “fortunate” to have the facility.

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“It is a great asset, it means families don’t need to travel away to Sydney, there’s obviously the burden of cost and accommodation involved in that,” he said in officially opening the centre.

“So having a facility like this to be able to diagnose all the issues and all the problems and all the things that everyone in our community, children across the state, across our schools, we all know that, from autism and other disorders, speech pathology it goes across the whole gambit, so congratulations on working on this joint initiative.”