Mary Jane’s fight to help daughter

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Mary Jane said: “I refused and spent another 16 months in court and in the end the judge granted me a full care package and weekly Speech and Language Therapy, which was great.

“However, my daughter only had these needs met for about three months when all therapy stopped.”

“I’m not entitled to free legal aid and any extra money I earn outside of paying my bills and food go towards paying for home support for my daughter.”

According to Mary Jane, her daughter’s lack of Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy has led to an increase in behavioural issues over the years.

“She can’t communicate and unfortunately sometimes she will resort to aggression to get what she wants,” she said.

“She needs behavioural therapy now and we are hoping to get her a device which will enable her to communicate.

“The tablet will cost in excess of €2,000. I’m hoping that in time things will turn around for us.”

When asked to comment, the HSE sent the following statement.

“The HSE does not provide client specific details. However, HSE Disability services work within available resource, in conjunction with families and service providers, to develop individual support plans on a service user basis to meet service users specific needs as far as possible. In general, plans utilise a mix of multi-disciplinary supports, structured day services, respite services and in home supports. The highest level of support is a Residential Placement, when all other supports have been exhausted,” explained the HSE.

Tusla also responded stating that they do not comment on individual cases.

“Tusla Child and Family Agency does not comment on individual cases, this is to protect the privacy of the children and families we work with.

“When a child or family enters into a relationship with a public service such as Tusla they are entitled to expect that information generated in that relationship is treated in confidence and remains private. This is critically important in the subject matters which Tusla is involved.”