CALL FOR NATIONAL DATABASE TO ENSURE FULL EDUCATIONAL AND THERAPEUTIC SUPPORTS FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM - Cllr Ellen Troy
A national database should be established when children are diagnosed with Autism to ensure they get all the educational supports and help they desperately need.
That’s according to Aontú Cllr Ellen Troy who says a centralised information hub would go a long way towards planning for school places, saying that the ongoing crisis in education has reached ‘crisis point’, saying she is hearing more and more stories from parents, frantic that their children are being deprived of the support and help they need, due to the lack of special needs school places.
Cllr Troy says “The basic human rights of children with Autism in Dublin 15 are being ignored by the Department of Education. There is no forward planning being done”
“This is a dreadful situation for these families and a damming indictment of the Department of Education”.
“So many parents have been in touch with me in recent days and weeks about this; they are at their wits end, it is heartbreaking to listen to their stories and as a parent myself I feel their pain and their anger at how their children are being treated”.
“Parents in D 15 are actually being forced to put their children into mainstream schools in a bid to get priority in special needs classes”.
“They are pleading for each school in to have at least four special needs classes for primary school children”.
“The lack of urgency by the Dept is mirrored across many state services for children with Autism. Waiting lists for some therapeutic services in D15 are an extraordinary seven years. My phone has been hopping with calls from desperate parents whose little children are being forced to wait for years and years to get the help they need. This is scandalous we all know that early intervention is vital to ensure these children can blossom”.
“Families with Autistic children have to fight for everything they get. This Government is clearly not cherishing all the children of our nation equally. No amount of Government spin can cover the cracks on this issue, and it is an insult to parents and children to even attempt to do so”.
“We know that the country is enjoying a period of much prosperity, but shamefully children with Autism are not being given the supports and help they need to prosper”.
