June 11, 2018, (Ireland) Leinster Express: Laois children waiting four years for therapy in 'nonsensical' HSE says charity Chair https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/portlaoise-/318020/laois-children-waiting-four-years-for-therapy-in-nonsensical-hse-says-charity-chair.html Children with complex needs in Laois are waiting up to four years for vital services such as occupational therapy, due to a ‘nonsensical’ HSE system says a Laois Offaly charity chairperson. Mary Dunne is the Chairperson of the Laois Offaly Families for Autism (LOFFA) charity. She works with families who have children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Ms Dunne has called the HSE ‘nonsensical’ and difficult to access for families who are new to ASD. “We are seeing waiting lists up to four years for occupational therapy. There is a peculiar policy in the HSE that every time a child is seen they are discharged regarding their conditions. “Parents are reporting that sessions are getting shorter, a block of therapy with the HSE used to be six sessions but more often now it is four sessions and children are back on the waiting list to start all over again regardless of their condition or their needs. … Over 400 families are registered with LOFFA. The charity works to help families in Laois and Offaly to subsidise the cost of therapies for children with complex ASD. … “I have three children on the spectrum and my youngest has complex needs, and I had to go to the UK to even find out what his needs are. It is awful stressful on parents and worrying plus financially it is huge…. “Children with complex needs such as Autism need a multi disciplinary team but instead are being seen in isolation by individual disciplines and in the experience of LOFFA members there is very little communication and cooperation between therapists. “I really worry about new families, they can’t even get a diagnosis. There are young families with small kids just starting out in the hugely complex HSE system that is so difficult to even access in the first place. “Three years ago when we protested we didn’t think it could get any worse but it has,” she said. Last week, Laois TD Brian Stanley said the number of children waiting on Occupational Therapy services have 'escalated to an all time high'.
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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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