Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta McCarthy mar gheall ar an mBille seo a thabhairt isteach. Is maith an rud é go bhfuil sé ar urlár an Tí inniu. I know that the Minister, who has an understanding of this particular matter, will be keen to progress this Bill as rapidly as possible. Debate on this legislation thus far has focused on disability. As stated by the Minister, as in the case of any disability, the autism spectrum is huge. While I am physically disabled, my disability is minuscule as compared with the physical disabilities of other persons. Disability ranges from my type of disability to that of a student I once taught who could not speak, not because she did not have the ability to do so, but because she could not form words. As with all disability, we must recognise spectrum.

There are many people with mild autism, such as Asperger's syndrome, who have been successful in life and have contributed much to society. It is believed that a former Taoiseach of this country, Éamon de Valera, was mildly autistic. I understand one of the reasons such people are successful is because their condition allows them to focus on what they want to do. It is important to recognise that among those on the autistic spectrum there are many talents. I hope that as a result of the enactment of this legislation more such talents will be released. I know a person who is severely autistic but is talented in mathematics. It is important this type of talent is released.

It is good that Deputy McCarthy's Bill focuses on adults. I worked in the area of physical disability and I am very conscious that in many respects services for people with disabilities are much better for children than they are for adults. It is particularly appropriate that there is a focus on services for adults. As Deputy McCarthy stated, sometimes people can fall off a cliff after they emerge from the school system. It is very important this does not happen for the individuals and their families. People can be in extremely difficult circumstances and it is very hard for people to appreciate it. An autistic person I know is a student in Queen's University Belfast. Every so often he falls out of communication with his parents and one of them must go to Belfast to see if he is okay. It does not occur to him to make a telephone call to tell his parents everything is okay. The focus on adults is good and I welcome it. When it comes to medical and other services for people with disabilities, I appeal for more focus on the needs of adults than we have had in the past. This is not to say there should not be a focus on children because, of course, there should; we must focus on the children before they become adults.

The Minister and Deputy McConalogue have mentioned special needs assistants, SNAs. I worked very closely with SNAs and have huge respect for the work they do in the school in which I worked. We need to focus more on the role of SNAs. The Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, have a mindset which sees SNAs as being people who tie shoelaces or help in a physical way. In reality SNAs are used in a more encompassing way to help a child. They are under the direction of a teacher, and the active involvement of an SNA depends on the level of disability. I spoke to a teacher of autistic children several days ago and this also applies in the area of autism. We must change how we see things, and the Minister mentioned this with regard to people being excluded because they do not fit exactly into a service area. It is important we try to have a more flexible frame of mind. I strongly support the Bill.

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