Upfront with Katie Hannon

i will probably be criticised for this but to give my 2 cents on Adam Harris and autism.

over the years A good few people have said to me “that Adam Harris guy seems very much a high functioning adult, in all respects”. I would have to agree, he is well able to present himself well and his position clearly. He has set up a successful NGO and sits on corporate boards etc.

regardless of who his brother is, By any standard AH is doing well in life and he comes across as a pleasant, reasonable man, fair play to him.

I would know and have worked with many so called “ordinary” ppl who would be far, far less articulate or “well adjusted” for want of a phrase than Adam Harris - maybe they have an undiagnosed issue? I don’t know.

All I can say is AH -thankfully for him - seems to be on the most capable and high functioning section of autism, certainly there are many ppl on the spectrum who have much more severe issues than him.

you havent a fcuking clue about autism, but your ignorance's are extremely common in the country, including within our health system, ive met many on the spectrum that have been deeply traumatised by their interactions with our health system, and the serious lack of effective supports for the disorder!

Not nice having your credibility questioned, is it?

Think about that next time you ignorantly question someone else's diagnosis.

No, I'm ok, thanks.

That poster would look at your family members and say their diagnoses were fake, so I don't know why you're defending them.

That poster's disgusting attitude to people with autism shouldn't be tolerated anywhere. I'm not going to 'tone down' anything because it makes you uncomfortable.

It's scummy behaviour and I find it baffling that you have a problem with me rather than her.

I couldn't care if you think my posts are aggressive. These are people who are pointing the finger of blame at parents and children for 'clogging up the system for real cases'. These people wouldn't know a real case of autism if it slapped them in the face but they're going to pretend to be qualified to talk about what autism is. If someone is going to suggest that parents are paying thousands of euro and putting themselves through shitloads of extra expenses to 'game' the system, then I will treat them with the contempt they have for parents and for children with disabilities.

You're taking issue with how I am responding to someone saying parents are gaming the system, as opposed to the poster who would say your family members aren't 'real' autistic.

That is quite the bizarre hill you're dying on.

But fine, let's 'tone it down' and establish the facts.

Autism Identification Assessment: €2,300
Cognitive Assessment: €800
ADHD Assessment: €1,200
Occupational Therapy Assessment: €700
Speech and Language Therapy Assessment: €700

That's €5,700 euro just to be assessed. You'll have the usual suspects here who will saying 'it's a money racket' while completely missing the point that desparate parents are paying for these because the public system is so vastly under-resourced because the government of the day failed to do anything about it. This was well flagged in advance.

Now, let's move on to therapy interventions. Again, parents are forced to go private because the public system is just non-existent.

OT Intervention: €100
SLT Intervention: €100
Physiotherapy: €80
Play therapy: €60

Imagine that's one session per week. €5,200 additional cost.

Parents also have to fork out for therapy equipment so their children can manage at home. Examples include:

Peanut ball: €30
Trampoline: €60
Body socks: €25
Bean bag: €200
Visuals: €20
Black out tent: €60
Ear defenders: €22
Chewies: €16
Buggies: €300

And that's before anyone might have to adapt their house for a sensory room. This could be for children who are able to walk and talk and are high functional, and to an untrained eye, appear neurotypical. The type that Deeec (who loves your posts by the way) will tell you that their diagnosis was fake and there's nothing wrong with a child.

Oh, and lets talk about the extras like:

Paying for after-school support so the parents can work to be able to afford therapies: €166.50
Certain brand food
Special sensory clothes
Books
Medication
Transport to school (for those who are lucky to have a school place)
Some parents even have to give up work

And for what? A couple of hundred quid in DCA and means-tested care allowance?

Anyone who comes out with the nonsense that parents are 'gaming the system' and 'taking up space for the REAL cases' are chatting through their hole, and I will make sure they are told they are chatting through their hole.

Is that 'toned down' enough for you? Should I be really nice to those who tell me what is real and what isn't real autism?

You and Deec talk about family members with autism (and in your case ASD) and yet you both make an assumption that I don't have a lived experience of this myself through my own family.

Words matter. I'll make sure the words you're defending (which you are, otherwise you wouldn't be here arguing a toss about how 'aggressive' my posts are) are put firmly back in their box and locked up where they belong.

And you having a bigger problem with my response to people showing utter contempt for those with disabilities, rather than the people themselves, says a lot more about you than it does about me.

You are just as bad as them. How dare I react angrily to the utter offensive, ill-informed sh*te on display here.

Who are you to tell me how I should react? You know f*ck all.

Nothing to say of any substance or with any evidence, so you’re going to gaslight me instead that I’m the one with the problem.

Par for the course.

They reason they're all labelled as autism and aspergers no longer exists as a diagnosis is because AS was seen as light autism leading to some people not getting supports for aspects of their AS that really affects them.

I was diagnosed with AS as an adult in 2003, I am unable to hokd down a job b/c of my autism.

The reason for the rise in the number of children being diagnosed with autism is because people are being diagnosed earlier instead of being diagnosed as adults, one example of late autism diagnosis is Susan Boyle, she was diagnosed a few years after she was on Britain's Got Talent.

I clicked on that just for Mary Kennedy 🤭.

Will Mary Kennedy drop Wiltshire Farm Foods ready meals into the conversation when discussing downsizing? 😉

Unreal . 😁

Major ####!

And the audience applauding his birthday today. SMH.

Dan O' Brien also talking sense, says that even if older folks were financially incentivized to move, it wouldn't make a dent in the no.s

Quite cheeky of Katie to hit Eoin with "the electorate rejected you", however he was quick on the retort by pointing out that the govt. lied about the completed build numbers during the election campaign. Again he's absolutely right, but the govt. arent going to admit that and swap seats.

Holy Sh1t she actually asked Dan O Brien about work permits - Immigration discussion on RTE???

Govt stooge says he has reservations about limiting immigration - aka no restrictions on work permits.

Folks the Indian student visa/"IT worker" permits is absolutely nuts.