Hilda Duignan has four children, two of whom have autism. She told Drivetime's John Cooke that the four children are in three different schools in three different counties. And Hilda doesn’t know where her 5-year-old will be for the 2024-25 school year:

"Currently we have the hope that my 5-year-old will join his sister in Ballinasloe, however if that place isn’t offered to us – and that’s a real possibility for us – it may mean that we need to take a place in a school much, much further away. If that’s even an option because currently there are so many schools with autism classes who don’t have capacity and a lot of schools without autism classes, and we just don’t know where our little boy will go in September."

John asks Hilda what she will do. She tells him that she has applied to seven different schools within a 35-40km radius from her home and they have all come back to say they don’t have a space for her son.

"My little boy would not survive in a mainstream setting. He needs a specialist autism class and it’s just not there."

Hilda spoke to the Department of Education’s Special Education Needs Officer for her area:

"She informed me that unfortunately, even though she is working as hard as she can to have other classes opened, that currently, in one area of Athlone alone there are 18 children without appropriate school places across an age range from primary to secondary school. And that does not include my child."

Elaine Hynes’ son turns 13 next month. She told John that she’s been applying to schools in six counties to try to find the appropriate class her son will need:

"Roscommon, Galway, Westmeath, Longford, Laois and Offaly... But the reality is there are no places across these six counties."

Again John asks, "What do you do?" Elaine says she’s holding out hope for a school near to her that is – hopefully – going to open a class for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses. But even if that class materialises, Elaine knows that her son is not guaranteed a place in it. "What do you do?" John asks once more. Elaine tells him she really doesn’t know. She is aware of three families that are home schooling, but that isn’t an option for her. And it shouldn’t be an option of last resort. It isn’t fair on her son, she says:

"He needs to be in school, he needs to be learning. He needs to be given the same opportunities as every other child."

Claire Earley’s 10-year-old daughter has a place in an ASD class at primary level, but she’s concerned about the lack of follow-on places in local secondary schools. She and other parents formed a support group, Autism Parents Athlone, two years ago and places in schools quickly became the most-discussed topic:

"The school issue seemed to take the forefront instantly as soon as Autism Parents Athlone was set up. To hear that generations of children have been bussed to other schools outside of Athlone was heartbreaking. So we campaigned and we successfully got a secondary class open locally, but that’s not enough. One is not enough."

One ASD class caters for six children, so it’s clear that one really isn’t enough, given the number of children in the area who need ASD classes. Claire believes that the crisis is only going to get worse and that every school in the town should have ASD classes.

"People are only coming forward now because the replies from schools, the nos from the schools are coming out now, just before the summer break and people are having to go through all the summer not knowing what’s happening for September and it’s just not good enough."

You can hear John’s full report for Drivetime by clicking above.