Support for autism in Ireland

[BlueberrySmoothies]

Wondering if any parents who have been through the system in Ireland can offer some advice…

Currently based in the UK. DS is 19mo and has been referred to see paediatrician for face to face to decide if he needs referral for autism assessment - waiting list very long so the actual assessment will be probably closer to third birthday. It’s looking very likely we will receive a diagnosis.

I’m Irish, DH is English. We are wondering what the support is like in Ireland vs England. I trained as a primary teacher in the UK and taught here for a few years so I’m aware of the options we have here but I have no idea what is in place in Ireland for autistic children.

On a personal level I have a support network at home (Dublin) that I simply don’t have here so that would be a plus for me but ultimately I want to be in the best place to support DS so if that’s staying in the UK then I’m more than happy to do that. Appreciate any advice from others who have walked this road before, thanks!

In my experience, in Ireland your child wouldn't even be considered for an autism assessment at the age he/she currently is. For some reason 6 is the magic number. And that's not a guarantee that they'll get assessed at 6. The process could take years. My own child it was a 2 year process from the time it started and quite frankly there was no state funded support (knock yourself out if you can pay for it yourself but even there there are waitlists). There are a small number of autism units attached to primary schools now with minute numbers of places: they are like hen's teeth. Some children with autism are provided with "support" in primary school. That "support" decreases year on year and SNAs are now only supposed to deal with issues like toileting and eating making the process for getting increased SNA support in a school absolutely excruciating/nigh on impossible. Whatever kind of SNA support may exist in primary it will not follow your child to secondary. I don't know what support is like in the UK but it is abysmal here.

I found the opposite, that there is more support and things move more quickly for younger children.

Asiam.ie is an autism charity which gives an outline of the assessment process here. You can ring them for a chat.

Personally, I would choose to go private if that is an option financially.

@3timeslucky thanks for your response. I’m sorry your experience in Ireland has been so poor, but it’s really helpful to hear what other people have gone through.

Thanks @Chocolatetoothache I will give them a call and see how it compares to here.

Paediatrician we dad wants to review DS at age 2 before making a referral for assessment and waiting list for assessment is over 2 years so he’ll be in school before he gets to that stage by then. We are willing to go private but happy to wait until 2 and see what the paediatrician thinks as well as he is making progress (albeit slow progress) in some areas. Waiting list is too long for SaLT here so if we want any form of early intervention it will need to be private.
He has just been prescribed glasses as he is longsighted and has strabismus in both eyes but again we had to go private - his nhs referral made by the optician was under review since august and we’ve heard nothing.

Its becoming clear that we will have to go down the private route here, so maybe Ireland is the best bet as although yes we will have to go private at least I’ll have more family support there.
I’m just not sure about schools, where are they better equipped here or Ireland, it’s tricky as obviously this varies from school to school and there’s no guarantee of getting into your chosen school. Such a minefield!

Sorry I'm late to the thread, are you still considering moving to Ireland? With DS, I raised concern at his 2 year check, he was diagnosed at 3 and a half. He had SLT during that year gap. He had a good few physio appts, 2 OT apps, no psychology appts but I did the courses that the psychologists ran and found them helpful. He came on a huge amount with the early intervention from the SLT over the course of a few years. School wise, his application for an SNA was rejected despite him having an asd diagnosis!! I appealed and won. He's in mainstream school with SNA access, resource hours. I agree with you that having family to help is a huge bonus.

My experience is very outdated since ds is now 20.

His infants class teacher advised we get him assesed, we paid for a private assesment, we also went through an assesment at a place called Lucena Clinic but for reasons that are not clear to me they were not able to offer him any services (although I have friends with autistic kids the same age who did get services there). He got additional help in school with an SNA.

DS is very high functioning so actually being in a mainstream school was great for him. He was in a small school and the SNAs worked on helping him socialise. We were very lucky in that he had a really fantastic SNA.

The summer holidays are very long here as you know but kids with additional needs get extra tuition over the summer, in my sons case it was another 2-4 weeks of one of the teachers from his school working with him for a few hours a day.

I know there are a couple of schools in my part of Dublin with an autism class.

What part of Dublin will you be in?

I would recommend joining some local Dublin facebook mums/parents group, I know this conversation comes up periodically on the ones i am on.

Hi there, we’re in similar situation but with older children. Wondering how you got on BlueberrySmoothies?

We have a 10 DD with “low needs” ASD diagnosis, currently in academic independent school here in UK. Her younger sister is mildly dyslexic and undiagnosed adhd. Both capable in mainstream schools and we’re re considering move to East coast Ireland where I’m from.

Wondering where we can find inclusive, caring independent schools for them, especially secondary. Both very creative so good art departments are a draw!

Worried about whether UK Ed psych, OT, diagnostic reports are valid in Ireland?