I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House. The Gheel Autism Services, formerly the Gheel Training Group, was established in 1971 by parents of people with autism and was registered as a limited company with charitable status in 1974. The Gheel Autism Services provides day care, residential and respite services to adults on the autistic spectrum ranging from those with high functioning autism to those with a low to moderate degree of learning disability. The aim of the organisation, Gheel, is to provide a lifelong, caring and developmental service. Gheel recognises that it is critical that the interaction between the trainee and staff should not always be on a planned and formal basis but should also include appropriate spontaneous interactions including aspects of fun and friendship.
There are two major Gheel facilities in Dublin – in Fairview and Milltown – which cater for 56 trainees. In recent years these two facilities have had grave problems in their funding, capital facilities and staffing. I am informed by the families and friends of Gheel that at least £1.8 million is needed to try to remedy this situation. There is a waiting list of young people on the autistic spectrum who want to avail of the Gheel services. The families and friends of Gheel, under the chairmanship of Helen O'Connell, decided at a recent meeting to pass a motion stating that the families and friends of Gheel demand that funding and staff be provided to establish a comprehensive education and training programme for the trainees at the Gheel Autism Services. At present the majority of people being cared for at Gheel are not receiving any training, either academic or vocational. I am told part of the reason is that many of the trainers, while they are doing their best, are people coming through the community employment programme of FÁS. The parents and friends of Gheel believe the trainees are being denied the opportunity to develop skills in such areas as woodworking, horticulture, computers, pottery and crafts and social interaction to name but a few possibilities. These citizens should have an education and training appropriate to their needs. It is most distressing to observe the regression and lack of progress in many of the young people and trainees. There is also anxiety among the parents and friends of Gheel that there is no system whereby they can be represented on the boards of management.
A few weeks ago my colleague, Deputy Shortall, raised the question of provision for children and adults on the autistic spectrum with the Minister in a parliamentary question. The Minister replied to Deputy Shortall that the issue of education and training services for persons with autism over 18 years is among the matters which have been considered by the special task force on autism. The Minister of State may refer to this again tonight. If this is the case, will there be an opportunity this night two weeks following the budget, to bring in specific proposals to deal with the huge gaps in the provision of services for people with autism throughout the country? Recently there was a controversy about other parliamentary questions to the Minister for Education and Science when he over estimated by a factor of ten, the amount of money being given to a project for applied behavioural analysis. It is understandable that these parents and guardians of children and adults get so frustrated when they see a great deal of hype and PR about resources which are not there.
In the context of the new health strategy, there is a major opportunity to look at the area of provision of these services. Not only in Dublin but throughout the country – in areas like Kerry, for example – there are lengthy waiting lists of people who have this condition. Since Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger published their first papers identifying autistic children in 1943, a great deal of research on the best methods of education for children on the autistic spectrum has been carried out. It all focuses on early intervention, intensive resources and personnel, intensive emphasis on visual education and realistic training, particularly in relation to real objects. In that context, the provision of trained personnel and good education facilities is the key to the education of these citizens with autism.
It is an area of education and training in which, unfortunately, the Department of Health and Children and the Department Education and Science have failed. In my representations on behalf of Gheel in recent months, I have noticed that the two Departments seem to throw the issue around like a hot potato and pass it back and forth to the health board. This happens in other parts of the country as well. I ask the Minister of State and his colleagues to take responsibility for this area. In two weeks time, they have an opportunity to come up with the £2 million needed to provide the necessary resources for citizens in Dublin and elsewhere who suffer on the autistic spectrum.
