Sept 2, 2018, Dublin Extra.ie: Twin boys with autism told ‘start school when you are 9 as there are no supports https://extra.ie/2018/09/02/news/real-life/autistic-twins-no-school-place-dublin These twin seven-year-old boys may not be able to attend what should be their first day of school tomorrow — despite having already waited two years longer than they should have. Due to endless waiting lists and lack of supports, twins Rory and Dylan, who both have autism, have spent the last two years in preschool, despite being of primary school age since 2016. The twins recently secured a place at a specialist school in Rathfarnham. However, this won’t be available until 2019 — six years after they were placed on the waiting list…. …They have made slow progress up the waiting lists of suitable schools across the capital since because there are no State-run schools with autism unit places available in Dublin or Kildare….
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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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