Dr. Susan Crawford:

Again, I echo what Ms McSherry was saying. Education is key, as is a wholistic approach to education. I am not just talking about educators, but about starting with educating parents by having appropriate expertise coming into the community and working with people. We were doing it here in Clare in the late 1990s, where we brought in the picture exchange communication system, PECS, teachers and all those experts who were brought in together with parents who were fundraising to get things up and going. This was so that people could understand what was available to them.

Equally, we have to educate legislators, as well as staff in the HSE who are not necessarily coming with a background in the area of disability but who may be working in that area. There is a greater piece around autism, which is that we must have respect for and understanding of autistic communities. This is not just a matter of one type of a disability, but it is a way of being. The autistic communities truly believe that this is who we are and this is our piece. People need to be educated on all of that. Education is far greater than just the educators. It is so much more and involves a wholistic approach to education. I always believe in the business of top-down and bottom-up. We have to work with the people on the ground coming up and, equally, we have to be willing to make changes from the top-down. That mindset has to change across so many different Departments.