Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 4 November 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters

Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Jean Mullan:

As Ms Kearns and others have pointed out, throughout the life of someone with autism and an intellectual disability, there is a fight for services. This becomes particularly acute when people are coming to the end of their time in school and are reaching the age of 18. Many services stop at that point and those 18-year-olds cease to be eligible for them. They are patted on the head and told to go off and live their lives. It is a difficult transition for most of us when we move from the school setting into adult life. People with autism and intellectual disabilities need extra support around that time.

I will mention a positive, in that along came the ability programme. This is another thing that happens from time to time. Excellent programmes are rolled out but they have a short duration. In this case, it was 36 months. The programme was rolled out throughout the country. I was involved in the programme in my area and it was excellent. It picked up kids when they were aged 15 through to the age of 29, which is the time when people are trying to figure out what comes next. It was person-centred. The programme looked at each individual and asked what they needed. Some people are looking to go into further education and others are looking to participate more in social activities, work experience and what have you. There was a range of things involved and each person had a support worker to help and facilitate them in the next stage of their lives. There were very good outcomes. I know that one young man who had been, like many people, shut up in the family home was facilitated to start volunteering at the local radio station. That has led to him doing it on a continuous basis. Another young person was given an apprenticeship with a dry stonemason and that has also evolved into a longer-term situation. These are all little efforts at a community level but I feel that if that sort of project could be scaled up to be nationwide and permanent, it would be of huge assistance for young people at that stage of their lives. It would lead to fewer problems down the line because they would take an essential step into their adulthood and, hopefully, be able to progress thereafter in a better manner.

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