Long waiting lists for disability services in Louth

Children with autism and a range of other disabilities in Louth are being failed by a system that is creaking at the seams, according to a Louth Labour TD Ged Nash.

It comes as last week, on foot of calls from the Labour Party, the government has made a commitment to explore funding private assessments for children with special needs in a bid to reduce waiting lists for families.

Figures obtained by the Labour Party show that at the end of 2022, there were some 104 children under five-years-old waiting more than a year for their first assessment for occupational therapy and 564 children, over five-years-old waiting more than 12 months for their first assessment.

“At the root of the problem is staffing. Out of six full-time occupational therapy posts in County Louth, there are a staggering 5.5 vacancies. Essentially, there is half an occupational therapist covering the entire county,” said Deputy Nash.

Louth Labour councillor, Emma Cutlip has first-hand knowledge of the problems accessing disability services in County Louth.
Cllr Cutlip is a mother of two children with additional needs and has first-hand knowledge of the problems accessing disability services in County Louth.

One of her children is among the hundreds on a waiting list for disability services for the local Children’s Disability Network Team (CDNT).

Detailing her personal experience, Cllr Cutlip said:

“I have two autistic boys who also have sensory processing disorder. My youngest is almost four years old and is non-speaking.

“We have been trying to access OT services through public health since he was 18 months old. We're still waiting. He is a client of the South Louth CDNT and urgently requires speech and language therapy to give him a hope of communicating or possibly even speaking, and occupational therapy to keep him safe from hurting himself or the rest of his family.”

Councillor Cutlip said her youngest is a happy child and full of love, but she fears that he is being left behind and "is having opportunities stolen from him.”

Her older son is six and a half attends senior infants.

She continued:

“He is super smart but socially awkward and has problems with transitioning from one activity (or subject in school) to the next and has emotional regulation issues when overstimulated.

“He was only accepted onto the CDNT intake waiting list last year and isn't considered severe enough (like his brother) to have had an intake yet.

“He needs OT too, but there is little or no hope for him accessing that and without the correct reports, we won't even be able to get him access to support in school when he moves into 1st class next year.

“Like thousands of families, our kids are being left behind and we as parents are left exhausted, worn down, and literally willing to do anything to move this crisis forward.”

Deputy Nash said the figures revealed Louth to be “among the worst performing counties in the country.”

“Even getting up-to-date figures for service provision in the county has proved challenging but end of year figures from 2022 show that the availability of occupation therapy, for example, is almost non-existent in Louth.”

Cllr Cutlip added: “The CDNT system is failing our children, failing parents and failing the clinicians who want to help us.

“These figures are shocking – even though they are out of date – but they are utterly unsurprising to those of us whose children are still waiting for occupational therapy.

"Our children are being left in distressing states of sensory overload.”

Cllr. Cutlip concluded: “It is obvious to me as a parent of a child on CDNT waitlists, that these figures are severely out of date and that the situation is currently even worse than presented.”
Welcoming the government’s announcement, Jennifer O’Neill, Manager- Specialist Services, Autism Assessment Centre Ireland said:

“This announcement from Minister Rabbitte is hugely positive step in addressing some of the challenges families are facing accessing assessments.

“We have worked with hundreds of families, who reached out to Autism Assessment Centre Ireland for a private assessment after being placed on Assessment of Needs Waiting lists.

“Our team have extensive experience working directly with the HSE to provide high-quality reports which satisfy all current criteria both for Primary Care/Children’s Disability Network Team (CDNT) and Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO).

“This report from our clinicians will provide both answers and the assistance needed for families. Should the government move towards providing more families access to private clinics, at Autism Assessment Centre Ireland, we have the right people with right skills and knowledge in place to support this.”