Keith Duffy opens up about his daughter’s autism
Keith Duffy has opened up about his daughter Mia’s autism in promotion of a new TV documentary called, Let Me In.
In a video interview with the Mail Online, the Boyzone star talked about how he and his wife Lisa were "distraught" with the diagnosis when their daughter was 18 months old.
“Every day you have a realisation that you're going to have a child with a lifelong disability is absolutely horrifying,” he said.
“It's so frustrating, horrifying, upsetting but you have to try and find the positive.”
He urges parents with autistic children to "stop mourning the child they thought they had and start embracing the child that they have".
He explained that Mia was non-verbal until the age of seven, it was only then she “started to become more a part of our world in small ways” but communicating with hands signals.
He went on to talk about the need for early diagnosis, “The earlier you can diagnose a child with autism the earlier you can put in place an intervention plan and I think that's fantastic. To make it 11 is an absolute disgrace.
“Every individual is important. And to leave an individual with a disability like autism to be un-intervened until the age of 11 is just wrong.
“You have to undo so many things to then put in place what needs to be done."
Mia had passed her Junior Certificate and attended her school’s debs.
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