The High Court has approved a settlement in the case of a 32-year-old autistic man who sued over an alleged failure to diagnose autism in childhood which, it was claimed, caused him to miss out on an autism-specific education.
The settlement, for €125,000, followed a ten-year legal process initiated by Keith Callaghan, Rahoon, Galway, who sued through his mother Caroline.
The court was told Mr Callaghan has an autism spectrum disorder and is unable to read or write or do any mathematical problems beyond the simplest.
Alastair Rutherdale BL told the court that Mr Callaghan had been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in November 2009 just before his 18th birthday but it was "too late at that stage".
He said it was their case that Mr Callaghan should have been diagnosed from early in his childhood.
In the High Court action, it was alleged he had been placed in a general special education school without any assessment of his needs and that there was a failure to diagnose his condition and to provide autism-specific educational service.
The case was taken against the HSE, the Minister for Education, Ireland and the Attorney General, as well as Brothers of Charity Services, Renmore, Galway, which provides services for individuals with intellectual disabilities and the board of management of St Joseph's Special School, Newcastle, Co Galway.
The settlement was made without admission of liability.
Approving the settlement and granting the order to pay the costs, Ms Justice Nuala Jackson allowed €5,000 be laid out immediately to the family for a holiday.
Afterwards, the family's solicitor David O’Malley applauded the Callaghan family for the resilience shown during their long legal battle and he said he hoped lessons can be learned from the case.
