Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I was asked to put the question to the Minister of State by members of the Campaign 4 Autism Inclusion in Dublin 12. What they are seeing now are the difficulties posed for many of their children who have gone through primary school and are moving on to secondary school. As Deputy Ward said, many parents are starting to worry. One of the criteria for most secondary schools is that a child needs an updated report to access an autism class, irrespective of whether the child was attending an autism class at primary level. The campaign is raising the need to change the system. If a child is diagnosed as autistic, the diagnosis should carry through the child's educational life. The campaign suggests that there should be a supporting letter on a child's needs from the NEPS or a children's disability network team, CDNT, and that liaising with a primary school and parents should be sufficient rather than having families break the bank to get a private assessment of needs.

See this speech in context