‘Everything is a battle. We are just looking for the basic things for our kids’

Dunboyne mother of child with special needs calls public meeting to highlight ‘absolute frustration, anger and exhaustion’ over lack of adequate services

A DUNBOYNE mother who was driven to organise a meeting with local public representatives out of "absolute frustration"over the lack of services for children with disabilities said parents are tired of their children's needs being ignored and services not being provided.

Siobhán Campbell wanted to impress upon her local Meath East TDs the challenges and constant battles that parents are facing to get desperately needed services for children with additional needs and says change must come from the top.

"We want to impress upon the party and government representatives that parents are tired of their children’s needs being ignored, services not being provided, assessments and diagnosis not been offered.

“This is an issue across Ireland but is particularly acute in Meath," said Siobhán.

"We are our children's advocates but we can't make anything change.

“We want the politicians, who are our advocates, in government and in opposition, to prioritise our kids who have been invisible for so long and to say this is not good enough. There needs to be change and it needs to come from the top."

More than 60 people attended last night’s meeting in Mulvany’s, Dunboyne, many who were parents/carers of children with disabilities.

In attendance were TD Thomas Bryne (FF), TD Darren O Rourke (SF), apologies from Helen McEntee, also present Cllr Nick Killian, Cllr Gillian Toole, Cllr Damien O’Reilly and Cllr Maria Murphy.

They heard from dozens of parents about the struggles they face in accessing services for their children.

Siobhán has a 14-year-old son Ewan who has a diagnosis of autism and moderate learning difficulty. He attends Stepping Stones School, which recently moved to Maynooth from Kilcloon after years of campaigning for proper facilities for the school.

Siobhán explained that in Meath CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) will not see a child with a learning difficulty and they currently have no access to a paediatric psychiatrist to review or monitor Ewan's medication.

"When Ewan was diagnosed with his learning difficulty and we wanted to discuss support with medication, we were told the only option available to us and Ewan was to seek a private paed psychiatrist or to go to A&E.

"When we felt we really needed support from a paed psychiatrist, we were fortunate to be able to be in a position to pay for a private appointment with Dr Brian Houlihan in his private clinic in Temple Street. However, he retired a year and half ago and since then we have been unable to access any support for Ewan with his medication, and his file sent to his GP.

"Meath children’s disability service has had a vacant post for 14 years for a paed psychiatrist despite the overwhelming demand for this service. Currently I have a Zoom meeting booked for the end of April with a private paed psychiatrist in London, which is far from an ideal scenario."

Siobhán said she knows she is only one voice and is conscious that there are many parents who are in the same situation over lack of services.

"What prompted me to organise this meeting was the absolute frustration at the lack of services for children with disabilities, particularly in Meath.

"I've spoken to parents of other children at school with Ewan who live in Kildare or Dublin and while it is a struggle to get an appointment, there is a paediatric psychiatrist available to them.

"When we ended up in Temple Street at one stage, we met a doctor who asked who is the team around Ewan. I said he has no occupational therapy, no speech and language therapy, no psychiatrist. We are his team.

"Everything is a battle. We are looking for basic things for our children, assessment and services that they need."

Siobhan told how Ewan can be very impulsive and aggressive at times and that his situation impacts on all the family.

At present the only service they receive is respite for three hours twice per week and for an overnight twice every six weeks.

This allows Siobhán and Gordon to spend time with daughter Ava doing things like going to the cinema or for a meal.