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THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN will return to school over the coming days but for families where there are children with special needs the risk of contracting Covid-19 is just one of many factors of great concern for parents.
A survey carried out by Autism charity AsIAm this month revealed how 77% of parents believe their children will need additional supports but that 61% believe their children will not get them – without those supports greater anxiety, a heightened risk of meltdowns, and serious mental health impacts are inevitable.
Claire Clark lives in Cashel, Co Tipperary with her three children who were all diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Her youngest, Kayla (8), has coped well during lockdown, according to her mum, but will begin the school term in an ASD unit at a new school next Monday. Even the mention of the word school alone has prompted meltdowns in recent weeks.
Kayla’s older brother Ethan (15), is set to return to an ASD unit at a second level school on the same day. And the eldest of the three siblings, Josh (18) will return to a special needs school.
Each of the three children, with their own specific needs, coped in different ways during the prolonged closure of schools but with the home schooling routine out the window in just a few days time, concern is growing for how they will each be supported in the return to a classroom environment.
“The anxiety levels in my house at the moment are through the roof because they all know they’re going back to school,” she told TheJournal.ie.
“I still haven’t got Kayla her uniform because when I planned to do it, she had a total meltdown when it was mentioned… I don’t want to have her so high up in the air that come Monday morning I am back to square one trying to get her into the school.
“All I’m hearing from Kayla at the moment is can I bring her into the school myself and no, I can’t, I know that already and I’ve been told that by the school. There’s a specific line I have to drop her to and that is it. I know her anxiety levels will be very, very high at that stage.”
Speaking in the Dáil last month, Junior Minister for Special Education, Josepha Madigan insisted that “no child will be left behind” when schools reopen this month.
At the time, Madigan said: “We cannot tolerate a situation in Ireland where we have a child with special needs who isn’t treated equally in terms of a right of access to education as every other child. It is something that I am determined to rectify.”
“In the Department of Education, 20% of the budget goes towards special education – that’s €1.9 billion, in recognition and acknowledgement of the work that needs to be done around special education,” she said.
Clarke, however, said she and her three children have not had any specific measures communicated to support their return to school next week, and underlying conditions including Asthma in her eight-year-old daughter only heighten her sense of worry.
“I am all for kids going back to school, I think they need interaction but I think it should have been done at a more reduced rate, and there should be blended learning,” she explained.
“I have three children in three different schools, two in ASD units in mainstream schools and one in a special needs school.
“Ethan will be in an ASD unit with 12 pupils but I still don’t know what is going to happen in relation to him. He wouldn’t have the cop on to be able to do social distancing, he wouldn’t have the cop on to wipe the chairs and tables before he sits down.
“And then I would have the fear that he could take [Covid-19] home… he’s in one room but he’s going to be going to mainstream classes, so there is so much mixed messages. At the beginning it was said that children will stay in classes and teachers move around… but then they’ll be moving for the practicals, and I’m even waiting for that to change again.
There is no proper information being given to me for how this is going to work for children with ASD.
TheJournal.ie contacted the Department of Education for comment on how children with ASD and other special needs are being supported in the return to schools but did not receive a reply at the time of publication.
Advocates for children with special needs have echoed similar concerns in recent weeks as schools announced individual measures to support a safe return to schools.
“Both schools and families have expressed concern about the lack of clarity around how students with additional needs will be effectively supported this year, in the context of Covid-19 restrictions and whether sufficient resources have been made available to meet these needs,” AsIAm founder and CEO Adam Harris said.
“Students may become more overwhelmed, experience increased anxiety or be confused or distressed by aspects of the new normal such as social distancing and face coverings.”
One in 65 children in school have been diagnosed with ASD and while some attend special needs school, the vast majority attend mainstream schools.
The impact the return to schools over the coming week has on children with ASD has already been felt in households across the country, weeks before the first day of the new term.
While the minister with responsibility for supporting their return has insisted no child will be left behind, it has failed to reassure parents that this is the case.
“Everything just seems to be last-minute now,” Clark said. “Schools are reopening left, right and centre, and down here they’re opening next week so it’s going to be interesting to see what way things are going to work.”
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So they tell us the issue is fixed and we are on a boil water notice. So, for how long have we been drinking contaminated water?
@Peter Cavey: I’ve been wondering that too… we’ve had a few stomach issues which we had put down to a bug.. maybe the bug was in the water for the past week!
@Peter Cavey: criptospiridium infection diagnosed in last couple of weeks in a child in Lucan apparently. As far as I know they have to be notified to HSE and if there’s a pattern this escalates the issue.
@Peter Cavey: Funny you should say that, I was very ill for almost a week & had my suspicions it was due to our tap water as it was the only thing I could isolate as being the source. Would be interested to see if there were many more?
@Peter Cavey: Sorry customer that’s only for paying customers to know.
So IW’s excuse for 600,000 people being put on a boil notice is “a small mechanical failure in part of the plant”.
Either lies or incompetence.
@Shakka1244: I can never understand why such events are not alarmed.
@Shakka1244:
I fail to see how a mechanical failure would not be a plausable excuse for a malfunction of a water treatment plant…
@Tim Pot: You fail to see how anything could possibly be wrong when Irish Water are involved regardless of the problem.
Are you employed by this by the back door billing company?
If you are not then you are some dope constantly informing us of their greatness.
@G Row:
Not defending anyone here, just pointing out that a mechanical failure in a plant would be a plausable reason for a failure. Mr. shakka above seems to think otherwise.
@Tim Pot: Go on say something bad about them, bet you can’t bring yourself to do it?
Would you be fired?
@David Corrigan: it must have been flagged in some way, that’s how they know about it.
@G Row: Give it a rest. He basically said the it’s plausible that a mechanical malfunction can occur in a mechanical system. And he is correct. Your bias against Irish Water is so great that it is affecting your ability to think logically.
@Conoroconnor: More than likely it was spotted by someone wandering around the place. Every single piece of plant should be alarmed. With wifi, GSM or LoRaWAN being cheap and available, there should be no excuse for not having an alarm for each point of the system.
@Tommy Roche: I never said it wasn’t plausable. I said he fails to see how anything could possibly be wrong when Irish Water are involved regardless of the problem.
Do you love them too if so I am sorry for offending your sensitivities.
@G Row: Pardon the pun now, if you are of a certain vintage, but what’s love got to do with it. Is it not a bit childish to ask someone to say something “bad”? There is no reason to believe that it wasn’t a mechanical failure. In the real world out in rural Ireland, mechanical failures happen on group water schemes and on private wells too.
@Paddy J: The real world out in rural Ireland, good one.
@G Row: when you behave like an irrational child, people will treat you like an irrational child.
@Tim Pot:
1)Was this failure identified in EPAs Audit Report on Leixlip Water Treatment Plant based on an Audit in March this year and published in April this year?
2)Audit Report noted Auditor’s Comments including their hope that:
‘ IW MUST ensure that lessons learned from this incident are acted on to prevent a recurrence and to ensure the ongoing safety and security of the water supplied by Leixlip Water Treatment Plant and to protect public health for the SIGNIFICANT population served by the plant.’
3)Audit Report noted 5 Findings and gave 8 Recommendations to which IW was to issue EPA with a Report within a month as to how IW would proceed to adhere to Recommendations in Audit Report.
So how did IW respond to these Audit Findings and Recommendations?
@Nuala Mc Namara: re 1) meant to say wasn’t not was!
@Nuala Mc Namara:
I have no idea on 1-4. I’m assuming this is contained on the epa website?
Obviously it would be for Fingal county council (the operators of the plant) to implement any reccomendations.
@Tim Pot: You know!
IW is in charge of water services as you also know and the Findings,Comments& Recommendations were for the attention of IW .IW was to issue EPA with a Report in May as to how they will comply with the Recommendations in the Audit Report!
@emul8ter25: Terrible isn’t it. Tut tut…
@Tim Pot: How can a major infrastructural system that treats water for 600,000 people be at the mercy of a “a small mechanical failure in part of the plant”?
If the entire treatment plant is so at risk to small mechanical failures then something is seriously amiss no?
@Shakka1244:
correct, thats why the hse was notified, the boil notice given and an audit by the epa on the plant taking place tomorrow.
They’re spin doctor called these homes and businesses costumers on the radio ? must of been a freidian slip and meant to consumers I don’t know any costumer’s of the PR quango
@Gerard Heery: I doubt they have any costumers, most likely they have customers
@talkingsense: Late for class?
@Gerard Heery:
First the audi’s now they are using costumers! corrupt!
@talkingsense: thanks for that lads bearla wasn’t me best subject
@Gerard Heery: Is dóiche nach bhfuil do chuid Gaeilge níos fearr. Béarla is ainm don teanga a bímid á chaint de ghnó. (Níl mo chuid Gaeilge foirfe ach an oiread.)
If Irish Water was privatised (as many believe was originally intended) we probably would never have heard about the malfunction. The same instincts for corporate self-defence that we have seen so often elsewhere would likely have applied.
Customers?
@JusticeForJoe: citizens!
Can someone please let the people in affected areas be given a phone number that can be reached. THE iRISH wATER wEBSITE has been down since 6.30 last night,FFS. People are going to become very ill, especially the elderly living alone.
@Gerry Howard: This company really appears to be struggling.
They are spending just as much through exchequer funding as they had planned to under domestic charges, so charging is not the solution.
Surely a plant feeding 600,000 people should have a back up to all equipment?!
Serious questions to be answered by senior management in Irish Water.
@Gerry Howard: I rang the water yesterday evening and was told that IW staff also rely on the website so they couldn’t tell me my area was affected or not. Great service altogether.
I wonder would the 500 million spent on water meters or the 1 billion spent on setting up an entity named Irish Water have made a difference if it was spent on infrastructure and upgrading the water network.
This really is a damning indictment on Government for shocking decisions made and waste of public money!!
@Jason:
173million to setup IW, not 1 billion. I think you are mostly correct on the cost of the meters, but I would add they are and have been used to fix leaks ect..
Why were we informed about this so late? We have already drank their contaminated water
Would be no more had the one cheek of FFG Mehole not lied and pleased other cheek leader Lieo…
@Willy Mc Bride: Willy hopefully the electorate will remember Mehole Martins pack of lies about getting rid of Irish Water when the next election happens. https://www.facebook.com/Right2WaterIreland/videos/2132873473608388/?v=2132873473608388
Tim will be along momentarily to answer all queries in relation to Irish Water.
@G Row:
and if he is not available try the twitter feed:
@Tim Pot: He’s always available.
One week ago I received a Text from Irish Water. It said that as I had paid my Bill before, i would receive a notice should E Coli or some other such mishap happen. I would be notified of any need to boil water.
I thought this very odd as, as far as I am concerned, Irish Water don’t exist. I was frightened in to paying my Bills as they said those on welfare payments [am on contributory state pension ] would lose out etc., plus those renting so I stupidly let them frighten me.
@Rosie: irish water obviously do exist, the charges were abolished, not Irish Water.
@Conoroconnor: Thanks Conor, obviously but I did not like ‘because I was a customer of Irish Water, I would get a text’ does that mean those who did not [rightly] pay for water, don’t get a warning via text ? or leaflet etc.,
@Rosie: Considering that Exchequer funding pays for water services,that letter you got is particularly worrying!
Water users used to have an Ombudsman re consumer affairs over water services before but that was abolished!
@Rosie:
‘customer of irish water’ just means ‘you recieve water from Irish-Water’
Its not excluding anyone who did not pay ect.
Here in Co Louth we are on a boil water notice since July with little or no communication from irish water.
@Niall Moonan: not Dublin = not important sorry
To have to boil water is pretty serious. How come a small malfunction would cause this. I personally don’t believe them. It is very suspicious and I think the problem is much worse. Why?
Because from the start, Irish Water was a tax machine and not fit for purpose, with cock ups in apartment water meters and in my area ancient water pipes and we were told that lead would not get in to the water .
@Rosie: It can actually be a small malfunction, most plants use chlorine to disinfect the treated water. A pump failure or something as small as a blocked injection nozzle will mean the water is no longer being disinfected and therefore no longer safe to drink. A pump failure should be picked up fairly quickly but a blocked nozzle can be hard to pick up and would depend on the chlorine monitoring system being used if any. Both these problems can be rectified quickly,probably in less than an hour. The problem is though that any untreated water has to work its way through the system and this can take time.
@michael gallagher: thanks for that information. However, surely somebody oversees that as it is so very important, as in boil water notices for days and ensuing giardia and other infections in the elderly and those with compromised immune system like myself and many others.
I think the proverbial slap on the wrist is in order here.
Can’t believe they wait till the problem is fixed before telling us…..I’m only hoping it’s not a plant that uses Raw sewage.
Smelly Water…….
When did the problem first come to light?
The fact it was already fixed when they issued the boil notice suggests there was some time between discovery, and issuing the notice.
Why? How long? One person I spoke to said it was detected at 11am yesterday. If true, that’s a 7 hour lag before it was announced to the public.
And how long prior to that was the defect active for?
Why are the media not asking these questions? I engaged with a County Councillor on Twitter last evening, and he seemed remarkably incurious about these questions. They seem to be THE questions Irish Water should be answering.
Guy on the Vox Pop on Newstalk this morning: ‘ I was at work last night and had to go out and buy bottled water to make a cup of tea’ Eh, no, not if you boil the water to make your tea you didn’t. In the same segment, another woman moaning, as she spent money on water for her dogs: sorry missus but dogs eat shite off the road and drink water out of drains! Doubt untreated tap water will do them any harm.
There are places missing on that map…Portmarnock for example, why isn’t that labelled?
@JC: maybe they’re not affected?
Irish water the Boris Johnson of Irish companies.
Useless and incompetent
Celtic Pure recalling their water again also. Only country in the world where it pisses rain all year round and the public’s only two sources of sanitised water, the council and shops, are trying to poison them.
@GrumpyAulFella: I really don’t think they’re “trying “ to poison anybody
@Liam Carlin: it was tongue in cheek chap. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink – in Fingal anyway.
Sure it’s grand Irish Water, don’t worry about it, sure what would you expect for free?!
@Alan Bury: have you considered the possibility that the fact that people are demanding water for free may be contributing to these sort of problems? Just a thought
@Liam Carlin: We have already paid for our water through taxation. The reason Irish water was set up was to eventually privatise it. The billions of taxpayers money given to this monster seems to have poured into the ground literally.
they apologised that’s allright then
@Jason:
173million to setup IW, not 1 billion. I think you are mostly correct on the cost of the meters, but I would add they are and have been used to fix leaks ect.
At least ye have water in Dublin. In Athlone the water is turned off every night at 10 pm and back on again at 6am. Irish water day it is to conserve water and allow the reservoir to refill. Gas thing is they want to take water from the Shannon to supply Dublin yet they can’t get the water to the reservoir 2 miles away.
There not only seems to be a cloudy water as reported in the article, but also a lot of cloud regarding factual information.
Previous articles indicated that around last March the drinking water for said area was contaminated and there should have been a water boil notice issued but there was not, thus putting the health of 600,000 citizens at risk
After the previous water boil notice one of the three amigos in Government, Minister Cuckoo Murphy while been interviewed on radio and referring to the contamination which occurred around March indicated that there was a small mechanical failure which set off an alarm signal in a panel which had first to be viewed by an employee before a general alarm was given and a shut down, and because of human delay, there was a delay in the employee seeing this alarm it resulted in the March incident.
Well bearing in mind that the plant in question serves around 600,000 citizens, and in this day and age of technology if the situation was as Minister Cuckoo Murphy indicated, firstly it would be reasonable to expect taking into consideration the importance of this small mechanical failure, that there would be something like a dual or standby system, so that when the ”small” mechanical failure occurred / went down the other would kick in. Also in relation to relying on an individual person to observe the alarm and this delay been the reason for the March incident, surely in this day and age of technology, where alarms and systems, including mechanical, can be easily interlocked, and a failure in one part of system used as an inhibit in another part, coupled with alarms which can be automatically dialed out, for example to the EPA then there most certainly should not have been a March incident which unnecessarily put public health a risk. Also who is the manager of the plant surely a cause and effect assessment of the whole working system would have exposed the possibility of what happened last March occurring and therefore with this in mind modifications could be carried out, not just to minimize risk but to make it completely fail safe.
I certainly hope it was not the case of Irish water not having the funds to make safety upgrades/modifications, bearing in mind the millions of wasted euros spent on useless individual domestic water meters. What exactly is going on in the Leixlip Plant, will we be told the whole truth? don’t think so.
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