Ireland is currently awash in autism. Whenever I see a report from Ireland on Google News, I know it’s either going to be about desperate parents who can’t get their children into a special school, years long waitlists for ASD assessments OR about the latest city in Ireland now declared to be “autism friendly.”
Officially in Ireland, one in every 21 students in Irish schools, one in every 13 boys has autism. (Keep in mind that that statistic came out in 2022, so it may be worse now.)
Ireland is a close second to Northern Ireland where the autism rate is one in 20 students, one in every 12 boys. That numbers is from 2023, so it’s probably higher now too.
It makes sense that with those kinds of numbers, autism would be making a huge impact on society in Ireland, and it is.
I’ve seen endless stories about how bad things are there, and recently one 13 year old has gotten a lot of media attention.
Cara Darmody from Tipperary has been protesting outside the Irish Parliament, and she’s met with the prime minister. Cara has two brothers with severe autism. She demands that officials live up to the requirement which calls for ASD assessments within six months, not the two to three year wait that it currently is.
Newstalk: Children with autism are ‘rotting on waiting lists’ in Ireland—Cara Darmody
“I’m doing this solely with the aim of helping the 20,000 kids who are on the HSE waiting list [for an assessment] and for the families that can’t fight back themselves. . . .
“The Assessment of Need law is a law stating that any kid who applies for an assessment must be assessed within six months of their application,” she said.
“But in nearly every single case in Ireland, that is not happening because these kids have to wait years for assessments.”
Cara had met with previous prime ministers who made promises that were never fulfilled.
Irish Sun: TEEN'S FIGHT –‘Nothing has changed’- Brave teenager vows to protest outside Dail every week until election in autism assessment fight
The brave first-year student has previously met with Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin on the issue and secured a meeting with current Taoiseach Simon Harris for today.
Addressing the previous meetings Cara said "nothing has changed."
Speaking yesterday to the Irish Mirror, she said: "The two previous Taoisigh told me that they were going to be giving me change and they promised me change but they didn’t deliver that. So I am up here trying to get change and Simon Harris has agreed to meet me tomorrow.
“Even if Simon Harris himself says I am 100 per cent right, the issue is getting the change.
What I am trying to achieve is a deadline and a date. I will be here every single week until the next general election. I’m not going to give up.”
Good luck with the current prime minister, Simon Harris. Harris thinks autism has always been here; we just started to notice it.
I wrote about Harris in May.
How the Irish Government Covers Up the Autism Epidemic; There will never be too much autism for Ireland
Harris and his brother founded Ireland’s national autism charity, As I Am. His brother has Aspergers and vigorously promotes the ideas of neurodiversity. To him, autism is genetic and people are born autistic.
So five percent of children in Ireland have always had autism. That is the universal message in Ireland. All the autism there is because of greater awareness.
A recent story, also involving a government protest, repeatedly emphasized AWARENESS as the reason they now recognize so many children with autism.
June 20, 2024, Newstalk, Dublin: ‘Just heartbreaking’—Autistic children left without school places join Dail protest
Parents of more than 15 autistic children who have been unable to secure a school place this year have gathered to protest outside the Dáil.
Newstalk reported earlier this week that at least 17 children with additional educational needs in the Dublin 15 area have been left without a school place.
The parents told Lunchtime Live that they had applied to around 30 schools across Dublin – and been rejected from every one. . . .
Dana and Val Thuiller said their son, Louis (13), should be heading to secondary school in September - but he hasn't been accepted yet. . . .
“Were just baffled as to why nobody can accommodate him now at this point” said Dana. . . .
"This has to change"
She said there has been a huge increase in awareness about autism in Ireland over the last 20 years – but successive government has failed to act. . . .
“This has to change because all this acceptance has led to a situation where our kids are just not being accounted for.” . . .
The parents are continuing to campaign for a major increase in special education funding right across the country.
Someday Ireland will wake up to the autism epidemic.
I can say this because the numbers show no signs of leveling off. I can’t imagine how much longer the public will accept that somehow these kids are nothing new.
Here are just some of the recent reports.
Laois Live: Laois schools to get extra special classes for children with autism
Nenagh Live: Tipperary parents call out for additional ASD units in secondary schools
West Meath Examiner: Two special education classrooms approved for St Mary’s NS, Rathowen
Irish Independent: Westmeath primary school given go-ahead for significant expansion
A county Westmeath primary school has been given the go-ahead to undertake a sizeable extension of its facility to meet the demands of children with special educational needs.
RTE News: Sligo primary school promotes integration of autistic children
VIDEO: There are well over 400 pupils attending Our Lady of Mercy School in Silgo town.
Around 30 have autism, and the numbers will increase next term.
I Love Limerick: Deirdre Bourke has been appointed Principal of Limerick Community Special School, which will open its doors to an initial 30 students in September 2024
Deirdre Bourke has been appointed Principal of Limerick Community Special School, which will open its doors to an initial 30 students in September 2024. . .
The new school in Limerick, established under the patronage of Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (ETB) will help provide for children with a moderate general learning disability and complex needs or autism and complex needs from 4 to 18 years.
Anglo Celt: Lack of ASD school spaces highlighted
The increasing lack of appropriate school places for children with autism and additional needs was highlighted at the April monthly meeting of Cavan County Council. . . .
“Currently children must travel up to one hour to a school, which caters for their educational needs.”
In 2023, €2.6 billion [$2.8B] was spent on special education and an additional €113 million [$123M] has been earmarked to provide supports this year. . . .
“There are insufficient school places at primary and post primary school.
The Sun: Left in Limbo; We can’t find school for our son & are at our wits’ end after 15 rejections – we could be forced to take drastic action
THE desperate parents of a non-verbal autistic child turned down by 15 schools are begging Education Minister Norma Foley: “Please help us.”
Greg and Celine Lewis have been searching in vain for two years for a secondary school spot for Sam, 13. . . .
Frustrated Greg told how despite Sam’s case being raised in the Dail, the teen still cannot get an autism class place in a mainstream secondary school or an enrolment into a special school for September.
Irish Examiner: Looking after a child with autism in Ireland is a constant fight for support
Why do parents and educators have to fight tooth-and-nail for the promised State services for their disabled children? It’s time for the HSE to be pressured into doing what it is claiming to do, writes David O'Mahony. [Asst. editor, Irish Examiner]
Why is everything around disabilities so hard in this country?
Irish Independent: WWETB have started recruiting for staff at new special school in Co Wexford
Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB) have started recruiting staff for the new Special School which is set to open in north Wexford in September, 2024.
Gorey Hill School is a special school that provides an appropriate education for students, aged between 4 to 18 years old, who have complex learning needs or a diagnosis of Autism.
Senator Malcolm Byrne has welcomed the WWETB’s moves for staff recruitment. "This school is much needed
IF all the autism is because of awareness and acceptance, what did Ireland do with all these people in the past? Why are schools doing such a bad job of providing for them?
Are you saying the TV is lying to the people?
Why would they do that?
It just does not make any sense.
I have known Captain Leprechaun all my life.
He loves you, and me too.