Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Autism has been in the news frequently. Last week, a report from the National Council for Special Education stated one in every 65 schoolchildren in the State has a diagnosis of autism, a figure that is much higher than the one in 100 estimate just three years ago. Despite that, it seems to be increasingly difficult for some children to get the services they need. That has certainly been the experience I have come across in Waterford and the south east.

I was recently contacted by several parents whose children have autism and access a specialist cross-functional autism spectrum disorder team based in Waterford. They have learned, to their utter disbelief and shock, that the team is about to be disbanded.

I will read from an e-mail I received.

I met with my son's speech and language therapist yesterday who told me she’s not allowed to see him anymore as the autism team has been disbanded. There is now no autism-trained speech therapist or occupational therapist that is allowed to see the autistic kids anymore. His speech therapist... has been given a different job that’s not autism related, as has his occupational therapist. Basically, kids with autism have all been put under the same section as all other disabilities. You will be seen according to where you live. Each area has only one speech therapist and that therapist is not autism trained and my son now has to go into her waiting list to see her. More waiting lists! I was told it could be longer than a year before he sees her. The therapists from the autism team are extremely unhappy as they believe that autistic kids need specific help in communication and occupational therapy to help them for their future. How can they learn to communicate if their therapist doesn't understand the way they think and communicate in their own ways? You need to know how to get them out of their little shells which a general therapist will not know how to do.

The autism spectrum disorder team in Waterford have been working miracles with the little resources that are available to them. This specialist approach with cross functional teams working together has shown great results. In addition to the children’s normal sessions this team run training courses for parents which include Early Bird and the Hanen programme. The ASD team also run a number of workshops such as feeding, visuals, sensory processing and sleeping. These training courses and information sessions have been tremendously useful to the parents and are invaluable in relation to supporting parents.

It’s not easy to hear the news that your child has autism, and realise that your life will be utterly different than you had expected it to be. Daily life with a special-needs child presents many unique challenges. How do you come to terms with the fact that your child has autism? How do you cope once you get over the initial shock? This team in Waterford has filled the void and the support they are giving to the children with autism and their parents and guardians cannot be underestimated.

I also have a constituent who has a daughter aged 11 with autism. She had been advised in December that her daughter’s case was considered urgent and to have a psychological review undertaken. She has been trying to arrange that for her daughter and when she spoke to someone in the HSE recently, she was told that those services have been cut for children aged between six and 18 years of age. She was also advised that there is no alternative available nor are there plans to have a suitable resource replacement. Could the Minister of State explain what is going on? Why are the services being cut back? How can that be considered fair?

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