July 12, 2018, (Ireland) Dublin Gazette: LACK OF AUTISM UNITS IN LUCAN AREA ‘SHOCKING’ https://dublingazette.com/news/west-dublin-news/lack-autism-units-lucan-area-shocking-47393/ The Lucan area has seen an unprecedented demand for ASD Units within national schools in recent years. Cllr Danny O’Brien (SF) said the situation was “shocking”. He said: “Due to the lack of ASD units and, therefore lack of available places, parents are finding themselves in the frustrating and often traumatic situation of trying to find a suitable place for their child, who requires a special needs setting to support and provide the best option in assisting them on the road of progression…. Cllr O’Brien has raised a motion at today’s Lucan Area Committee meeting of South Dublin County Council, calling on Minister for Education Richard Bruton to put a plan in place to provide more ASD Units in the national schools in Lucan. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said it will invest €1.75 billion [$2.6B U.S.] into educating children with special needs – an increase of 43% from 2011…. She added: “The greater proportion of children with Autism attend mainstream classes, but some students may find it difficult to manage full-time placement there and will require the environment of an ASD special class for some or all of their time in school and for a minority of children with Special Educational Needs including Autism, placements in a Special School may be required.”… The NCSE has informed the Department that they have sanctioned 19 new special classes in Dublin for the 2018/19 school as part of an ongoing process.
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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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