Jan 28, 2019, Sun: 'ABSOLUTE DISGRACE' --Kildare mum devastated after autistic son is denied place in local school and reveals he’ll miss out on making friends and getting education https://www.thesun.ie/news/3681392/kildare-mum-autistic-school-place-denied/ A HEARTBROKEN mum believes her autistic son is missing out on making friends and getting an education after being denied a specialised place in secondary school. Benjamin Tynan, from Celbridge, Co Kildare, was diagnosed with autism when he was just five years old. It means that Benjamin, 12, is unable to cope in a mainstream school as change, loud noises and large groups can distress him. The sixth class student attends a specialised unit at Scoil na Mainistreach in Celbridge. 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. Devastated mum Siobhan Tynan, 47, said: "The local school have two places for five children so they had to do a lotto system and Benjamin wasn't picked. "There is nothing we can do. I have been emailing Ministers and I've heard nothing from anyone. They know there is a huge shortage of ASD units in Kildare, as there is all over the country. "Now if my child could go to mainstream school, it would be fine but he can't deal with it. He started out in a mainstream school before he was diagnosed and it was an absolute disaster. He needs the emotional, one-on-one support." Siobhan has started an online petition calling for a school place for him. And the petition has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures. … She said: "This petition is the last resort. When every door is being slammed in your face it is soul destroying and you have do something." … Siobhan says she and her husband Kevin have no intention of home-schooling their son, because he has the right to attend school like every other child in Ireland….
top of page
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
Search
bottom of page