Father of two autistic sons ‘is used to fighting’

A CORK father, who had to fundraise so his two autistic sons could access education, is running as an Independent candidate in Cork South Central.

Eric’s Isherwood’s two sons, Eric Junior and Colm, were diagnosed with autism when they were three years old. However, for the first nine years of their lives, they received no education.

It was only when Eric fundraised to send them to the US that they entered the world of learning.

Within one week at the Higashi School in Boston, they were toilet trained — such was the dramatic impact of a specialised education programme. They are now aged 24 and living in residential care in Cork.

Eric, who is unemployed, lives in Mahon. He says he’s not a one-issue candidate but that special needs provision is high on his agenda.

You won’t see any posters of him as he can’t afford them so he’s running his campaign through canvassing, Facebook and Twitter.

“I firmly believe that little has changed in the 20-odd years since my sons were first diagnosed. Anything that was obtained for special needs children was obtained through us fighting through the courts and people are still doing it to get the education best suited to their child. I’m used to fighting.”

Eric Junior spent two years recently on a waiting list to see a dentist at CUH. At present, only one special needs patient a month is seen by CUH dentists.

When he eventually got into the dentist’s chair two weeks ago, his teeth were in an appalling condition.

“He had to have three extractions, four fillings and an imprint for a false tooth. It was appalling to have left his teeth in such a condition for so long,” says Eric.

Colm was seen by a CUH dentist within three weeks — but only once his teeth were deemed rotten.

“Colm’s teeth had to be removed. Is the new HSE policy to not see these children urgently unless their teeth are rotten?”

Eric wants a Ministry of Special Needs to be established by the next government. However, he is also campaigning on the need for job creation, more gardaí on the streets and for child benefit to be only payable to people living in the state. He is, however, seeking an amnesty for all refugees in the state for more than five years on the grounds we can’t afford reception centres any longer.

Mr Isherwood is also a member of Autism Trust Ireland which is running an autism conference at UCC on March 12.

The trust has been established in the hope of creating an umbrella group for the various autism charities around the country.