Oct 27, 2018, The Nationalist: New playground for children with autism and special needs opens in Clonmel https://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/343747/new-playground-for-children-with-autism-and-special-needs-opens-in-clonmel.html A new playground that offers a safe, relaxing and accepting environment for children with autism and special needs has opened in Clonmel…. A fundraising drive across the community raised more than €125,000 [$180,000 US dollars] to provide the playground, the idea for which came from a comment posted on Facebook by local woman Jeanette Condon. … As a parent of a child with special needs, she said it provided a safe, relaxing and accepting environment for those with autism and special needs…. District Mayor Richie Molloy said it was a day of celebration and it showed what could be achieved when people from across the community worked together. He said the playground was a first-rate facility that would be widely used. Isabel Cambie, chief executive of the South Tipperary Development Company, praised Catherine Kennedy and the committee of the Autism Support Group - which, she said, proved it could deliver - while Joe O'Sullivan, president of Clonmel Rotary, said this much-needed facility would enrich the lives of young people. … An ecumenical blessing of the playground was performed by Fr. Deo, Ss Peter and Paul's parish.
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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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