Nationwide roll-out of clinics for special needs children urged

THE Government was yesterday urged to roll out a countrywide network of clinics dedicated to providing therapies for children with special needs.

Manager of The Clare Crusaders Clinic, Ann Norton, confirmed it would shortly lodge a submission with the Department of Health formalising its call.

Its clinic in Barefield, outside Ennis, was established in 2007 by parents of special needs children and has grown rapidly to provide therapies to 170 children with a range of special needs, including cerebral palsy, autism and Down Syndrome. The charity was established in 2005 by Clare parents frustrated by the shortcomings in the health system. The clinic employs five full-time and two part-time therapists.