By Fionn Daly
Parents of autistic children in Dublin 15 are at a breaking point, grappling with an education system that has failed them. Despite months of meetings with Ministers, protests at Government buildings, and pleas to local politicians, at least 13 autistic children remain without school places for September.
In March, national figures showed that almost 8,900 children were classified as overdue for ‘assessment of need’ under the Disability Act, by the end of last year. Nearly 7,000 children had been waiting for more than three months. Dublin 15 has been recognised as a hotspot in the crisis with 1,274 children on seven-year waiting lists for assessment of need, vital therapies like speech and language and other care from CDNT (Children’s Disability Network Team) support.
Cruel delays and bureaucracy
Parents have reported being rejected from dozens of schools and are met with brutal bureaucracy and mountains of paperwork while seeking basic human rights for their children. The delay in access to education and therapies is already having a negative effect as children miss out on essential early years intervention. The problem is compounded by the ongoing crises in healthcare, childcare, and housing. Teachers, healthcare workers, and disability therapists are leaving the country en masse for better living standards. At the same time, the government deliberately latches on to for-profit, market-based solutions to societal problems that can only be solved through public needs-based strategies. This systemic ableism must end.
“A scandal of the 21st century in education” is how the crisis was described in a documentary which aired on Virgin Media at the end of August. Parallels between the current crisis and the historical abuses of the Mother and Baby Homes are apparent. Vulnerable children are neglected and marginalised by state systems designed to care for them. Coincidentally, the documentary on the school crisis aired the same week as RTÉ’s Stolen documentary about the Mother and Baby Homes.
Minister for Children and Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has publicly acknowledged the state’s failings, admitting that autistic children and their families have been “badly let down.” The government line at the moment, as expressed by Minister Hildegarde Naughton in the Virgin Media documentary, is to claim ignorance and engage in delaying tactics through “data gathering and fact finding”.
Carrying the burden of government failing
Parents have expressed frustration not only with the lack of available school places but also with inadequate support for those who do find a place. In Dublin 15 and across the country, children are struggling in under-resourced mainstream education. The absence of appropriate resources and trained staff means that children and schools are being set up to fail.
Teachers and SNAs are being forced to carry the burden while working in extremely difficult circumstances. Meanwhile, the state is richer than it has ever been, with a massive budget surplus not being utilised. This is an extremely wealthy country, but the dire situation in Ireland’s schools would tell a different story.
In speaking with parents and educators we have learned that the Department of Education is writing to special needs schools imploring teachers there to move to another school on an emergency basis. The letter asks “all staff in City of Dublin [name of school redacted] to consider working temporarily in [name of school redacted], our community special school, on a temporary basis and as an exceptional response to the urgent need for special education places in Dublin.”
Government Ministers
Local government politicians in Dublin 15, including Jack Chambers, Roderic O’Gorman, and Leo Varadkar, have been painfully slow to act over the years, allowing the situation to deteriorate. Minister Naughton, responsible for special education, is failing to ensure sufficient school places and support services.
The government’s neglect has created a system where autistic children are treated as second-class citizens, their basic human rights denied. The ongoing struggle of these parents and children serves as a stark reminder of the need for systemic change.
The government is now scrambling to address the situation with the general election looming and is forcing schools to open in inadequate places. Speech and language, OT, SNAs, and psychological support must be made available to all schools. This is not just about children with a formal diagnosis, but would support children who are undiagnosed and may simply need temporary additional assistance.
As the crisis worsens, the resolve of the parents who are fighting tooth and nail for their children’s human rights will only strengthen. Ruth Coppinger and the Socialist Party are campaigning for systemic changes, working closely with parents in recent months. We are demanding a publicly-funded, “gold standard” healthcare system that includes disability care, and childcare. The campaign emphasises the need for a grassroots movement to pressure the government into action in the lead-up to the Budget, bringing together disability activists, carers, teachers, health workers, trade unions, and the children themselves.
Key Demands for a Gold Standard Autism:
- Immediate recruitment of SNAs and specially trained teachers to support children with autism and additional needs in schools.
- Opening of six autism classes in every school and additional special schools to ensure every child has a school place.
- A universal payment for all disabled people and carers to ensure financial independence and autonomy.
- End to means-testing and dehumanising continuous assessments for disability benefits.
- Investment in holistic and child-centred autism care, including early years diagnosis and education, art and music therapy, and access to adapted play facilities.
- Expansion of publicly funded respite services in Dublin 15, providing purpose-built accommodations and facilities for after-school, weekend, and summer activities.
- A comprehensive autism package in the upcoming budget, funded by the current budget surplus, to address the immediate needs in disability care and education.
- Comprehensive school leavers support to ensure that teenagers entering third level education and the workplace can achieve their full potential into adulthood
