Mr. Darragh Cullivan:

Hello, everyone. My name is Darragh Cullivan, I am 20 years old and I have autism. I was diagnosed with dyspraxia at the age of ten. Dyspraxia is a developmental and co-ordination delay that can affect your balance and co-ordination, and the planning of everyday tasks. At the age of 13, I was diagnosed with autism.

Primary school was a happy time for me. I had some good years with some good friends to whom I still talk today. I also met some great teachers. One of my teachers did summer provision with me for three years. We did a lot of fun activities, such as learning how to play hurling, and going out to many different places, including tours of the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park. Summer provision was very important because it got me out of the house and taught me many of the life skills I have today. I would highly recommend it to anyone if they have the chance to do it.

In 2015, I started secondary school and left some of my best friends behind because they went to a different school. This was a big change for me mentally. Secondary school was not easy for me because I encountered a lot of bullying in my time there. I felt like there was no one to help me because none of the teachers were appropriately trained to deal with autism. I had a shared special needs assistant, SNA, during my time in secondary school who would try to deal with situations of bullying by telling off the different people who were messing in class, but it would only encourage them to get back at me. They would take it out on me instead of stopping what they were doing. It was tough. I struggled with my mental health a lot when I was in secondary school and had a lot of different suicidal thoughts when I was there. At examination time, the pressure really got to me and made me not want to go to school because there was no one to support me. The teachers did not support me. My SNA maybe did help but at times, he was no help either. It was a very hard time for me. This may sound a bit strange but the best time for me was when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. It came just before my leaving certificate examinations so I did not have to sit the examinations. I almost fell the down the stairs with enjoyment when I found out the examinations were not going to happen and I could take my predicted grades and that was all I had to do.

I felt that I never made proper friends and got excluded a lot in school. The one thing that kept me going was the Little Seeds Arch Club, run by my mum and Ger Kenny. It was set up in 2013 and Mark Kenny and myself are the two original members from day one who are still in the club to this day. We are going strong, nearly ten years later. I made a lot of friends who made me happy all the time, including one friend, in particular. Every Saturday, we would go to each other's houses and watch the WWE at some ridiculous time in the morning and the UFC. Last Saturday, we went to Bellator in the 3Arena and it was the best time of my life. When I was younger, I never thought I could go anywhere without my mum and dad with me. To be able to go out with a friend for over seven hours was an amazing feeling.

When I was 16, I started my first job in a kids' play centre called Ship Shape Kids Play in Blanchardstown. It was a facility for children who wanted to play. It was not easy for me because there was a lot of sound from kids screaming and running around. I honestly do not know why I ever went there and I do not know how I ever coped with it. However, I enjoyed my time there because I also made some good friends, some of whom I still talk to. That all changed when the pandemic hit. I was never called back to my job. Many others were called back but I did not receive a text during the pandemic.

A couple of months later in 2021, I went to a different place called the ODEON cinema in Charlestown. I worked there for nine months. It was the best job I ever had in my life because there were a load of autistic people there who got what I was about. It was amazing.

I went to college in 2020 and studied sports management and coaching. Like Mr. Mark Kenny, I split my course up into two years. However, I found out half-way through my second year that people were sending messages about me and my autism to one another in a group chat, calling me "autistic" behind my back. It hurt me, so I left college after that. It was really tough for me. Now, I work in McDonald's in Blanchardstown, and have been for the past eight months. I left the ODEON because it was too much of a trek for me - I had to get three buses just to get there. I was always nervous about the time, because if one bus was delayed, it could screw up my trip to work entirely. McDonald's is a great place to work.

When I turned 18 last year, I engaged with something called Gheel Autism Services. Two case workers work with me and have helped me a great deal with, for example, getting a job and becoming a social person.

I am proud of myself and I have achieved so much, but the best is still to come. I thank the committee for listening to my story.