Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. It is great to hear this. While we have all of the strategies, what kills parents such as the woman who rang me this week is that she could not talk to somebody. It was all bloody emails. There is no personal contact. It is important that we stop for a minute. We have to say, for instance, that it is not right and that we should not be proud of it. We do not necessarily need a strategy. We need people to have a bit of common sense between their ears to try to get this done, whatever it takes. We are so tied up with abiding by rules that we forget about the fact it is people we are dealing with. About a year ago, a parent said something to me that comes back to me every time I speak about autism. People with autism do not have a disability; they have other abilities. We need to be sure the other abilities and potential are unlocked. We have to have understanding. I do not care who is dealing with a person with autism, they need to know what they are doing.

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