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

I wish to raise the issue of autistic children in mainstream schools who are excluded from the special care dental programme that autistic children in special schools and in special class are included in. I tabled a parliamentary question on this matter after I was contacted by the Dublin 12 Campaign 4 Autism Inclusion in relation to a health centre on Old County Road, Crumlin. The reply states that the dental service is not resourced to provide comprehensive dental care to all children, including those with special needs. The special care programme prioritises children in special schools and in special classes in mainstream schools, while children with special needs in mainstream classes are not targeted in special care programme. Parents whose autistic children are in the mainstream are already burdened, as the Taoiseach has mentioned, by the lack of services and huge financial burdens of paying for speech and language therapists, and physiotherapists etc., just like parents of children who are in special schools and classes.

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