Rise in grant refusals for autistic children

THE number of parents refused a grant towards the cost of caring for a disabled child has almost tripled since the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DoFSA) took over the scheme from the Health Service Executive (HSE).

New figures show one in five applications were turned down in 2008 when the HSE was administering the scheme. This jumped to six-out-of-10 between April 1 and May 22 this year, after the DoFSA took over.

The Irish Progressive Autism Alliance (IPAA)/Shine Ireland believes changes to the manner in which children are assessed for the Domiciliary Care Allowance has led to higher refusal rates.