Wexford children with autism living in ‘overcrowded’ conditions as they wait 18 months for appointments

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Children with autism are living in unsuitable, overcrowded homes while they wait for medical evidence confirming they require their own rooms. That’s according to Enniscorthy councillor Jackser Owens who said families must wait up to 18 months for a consultant’s letter before they can apply to the local council for a transfer to a bigger house.

“A child with autism needs their own room, their own space, if you have an overcrowded house it’s not suitable for this child,” he said at the January meeting of the Enniscorthy Municipal District (EMD).

"They often need to be transferred to a house where they can have their own room. But there’s a lot of red tape, they require a consultant’s report before they can be considered, a doctor’s letter is not considered sufficient.”

“It’s a very difficult area,” replied director of housing Carolyne Godkin, “we’ve seen an increased demand for neuro-divergent housing in a lot of categories. It doesn’t always mean a separate room is required though, it depends on the diagnosis. We’re working closely with the HSE to improve our knowledge around this, to inform our thinking in terms of the housing requirement.”

That thinking has seen Wexford County Council (WCC) revise its approach to housing projects moving forward.

“In our new schemes we are incorporating a lot of larger houses, including those for families with special needs,” said county architect Shay Howell. “If we require funding for those the first thing the department will say is ‘have you got an occupational therapist (OT) report?’ We can get those relatively quickly from our own OTs and include the houses in the planning report.”