‘I’m worried it will be another waiting list game after school’
Trish O’Neill has wrestled with waiting lists all of her young son’s life and the thought of what might lie ahead when he leaves school is already making her uneasy.
At age six, Conor, from Donoughmore, Co Cork, has benefited from some support from the Cope Foundation but the crisis it now finds itself in — with large and ever-lengthening waiting lists — is troubling for Trish.
“Conor’s needs are very complex and I have to think long term,” she says. “When children with autism come out of the school system, there is nothing for them.
“Cope has day support centres that give people an opportunity to be active and to do things like computers or art or gardening.
And they run employability programmes. Conor will need that kind of support in the future. I’m worried it will be another waiting list game when he comes out of school.
Trish’s experience to date of trying to access support is depressing. She noticed something was awry with Conor at age two — prolonged tantrums, poor sitting posture, poor verbal skills.
She sought speech and language therapy in the public system but went privately for treatment when she was told they would wait six to eight months.
She was advised to bring Conor for an assessment of need — which, by law, should be done within three months — but was told there was an 18-month wait. She had him assessed privately and he was diagnosed with autism aged two-and-a-half.
It took the public system another year and a half to catch up, says Trish, when he was assessed for the purpose of a school placement at age four. Nearly two years later, it emerged he also had an intellectual disability, which will mean a requirement for a special school, as opposed to a special unit in a mainstream school, where is currently placed.
“He was noted as high priority for psychological support but three years later has received none,” says Trish.
Their assistance dog Quelda, courtesy of the Irish Guide Dogs charity, is “the best therapy we have got”, says Trish. She is very appreciative of the support they get from a Cope social worker and the speech and language therapy that came through in the past few months.
However, they also had to go privately for occupational therapy. Trish is hopeful that Conor will soon get into a special school. The special schools in Cork engage with Cope, she says.
“We need Cope involved,” she says. “If Cope can get more support it benefits my family and it benefits hundreds of others.”
