Government must act now to help children with autism

ON Tuesday it was revealed that more than 1,000 children across the country are delayed on waiting lists for diagnosis by various HSE’s regional autism diagnostic teams.

Given the importance of early intervention and the fact that every day lost makes it less likely that an autistic child will be able to live an independent life in the future, it is a tragedy to loose precious time on a waiting list due to a supposed “lack of funding” for diagnostic services.

I do not accept that neglect of special needs children, in this case children with autism, is a just a matter of money.