Jan 29, 2019, Extra.ie: Fury as autistic boy misses his place in Kildare schools because they are full https://extra.ie/2019/01/29/news/irish-news/irish-mums-fury-after-son-with-autism-turned-down-for-school-place Hundreds of people have pledged their support for a boy with autism who has been denied a specialised place in secondary school. … But unlike the rest of his classmates, Benjamin will not start secondary school in September as there are no places available in any of his local schools in Kildare. The primary school pupil who is currently in a specialised unit has been told that there is no special school nearby equipped to meet his needs for the next level of education. The local feeder school have two places for five children but they had to do a lotto system and Benjamin wasn’t picked. But the 12-year-old is not able to go to a mainstream school as he finds it difficult to cope with the noise of the classroom and to be around other children for prolonged periods. It prompted his mother, Siobhan Tynan, to demand that the State find Benjamin a place at a special school better equipped to meet his needs…. She told Extra.ie: ‘We’re look for anything out of the ordinary for Benjamin — it’s just a basic human right that any child should have — and because he has autism and needs an (Autism Spectrum Therapies) unit.’ Siobhan and her husband Kevin have been told that they could get help home-schooling their son but they are refusing as he has the right to attend school like every other child in Ireland…. diagnosed seven years ago, everything the government has done to help seems to disappear in sixth class. … Posting on the petition page, Siobhan wrote: ‘Our son Benjamin is 12 and has autism, and is due to start post primary in September 2019, but has no school to go to. ‘Benjamin is entitled to attend school like any other child, but because he has autism, the department of education don’t think this. … When contacted for a response by Extra.ie, a spokesman for education minister Joe McHugh said that the Department does not comment on individual cases. In a statement, he said that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas where there is an identified need, in consultation with the relevant education partners and the HSE. Since 2011, the spokesman said that the NCSE has increased the number of special classes from 548 in 2011 to 1,459 across the country now, of which 1,196 are special classes for autistic children. In response, the spokesman said: ‘The NCSE is aware of emerging need from year to year, and where special class provision is required, it is planned and established to meet that need. This process is ongoing….
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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