Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said that the autism spectrum disorder specialists will be assigned to the children's disability network teams and they will work from within the teams. I am sure he is well aware that children with ASD have considerable difficulty with change. They take a long time to get know people, places and routines. Anything that upsets that makes the challenge they face even more difficult. The parents are shocked that the HSE has adopted such an approach knowing the damage it can and will do.

Everyone knows that resources are limited. However, there is a dedicated team that is getting great results which supports children and parents on an ongoing basis. The question is why consistency is being replaced with disruption and why specialist skills are being replaced with general skills. Could the Minister of State clarify whether there will be longer waiting lists if the children change to children's disability network teams and that the children will not have to go back to the start again? There is considerable concern in Waterford among parents about the potential effect on their children. What effect will the change have on the children? Is the approach being taken best practice? Could the Minister of State ensure that if services are reconfigured that no child will lose out, even temporarily?

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