Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 12 July 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism

Autism Policy: Discussion

Photo of Catherine ArdaghCatherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because I am conscious the Minister of State is low on time. I thank her for coming and thank her for her commitment to disabilities. She has moved to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and I look forward to seeing huge gains while she works with her new line Minister. It is a really exciting time and we are putting our trust in her to deliver services and therapies for our children. I wish to highlight the importance, which so many of us have mentioned today, of having services attached to all the new classes and all the new schools and of training SNAs and teachers properly. It is vital. I agree with Deputy Carroll MacNeill's point about equipment. It is not just equipment like wheelchairs and footwear but also occupational therapy, OT, equipment for kitting out sensory rooms, including the equipment children might need in an occupational therapist's gym. It is very hard for the school to put in place a proper, fully-equipped occupational therapy room and the NCSE said that is a Department of Health funding requirement. However, the schools need a better way of figuring out where to go properly for the funding. We need a more streamlined way because it seems to be quite an issue and not just in the school my colleague mentioned. Our Lady of Hope Special School is also looking to get more OT equipment and sensory rooms. This applies to many schools. When you are opening an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, class you need to ensure you have the equipment as well as the staff to support the class properly.

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