Rose Conway-Walsh: Urgent plea over medical card letters to autistic youth
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed a stalled 2017 bill, urging immediate implementation and joined-up services for autistic young people. She recounted cases of a 22-year-old facing a medical/GP card eligibility review and a 15-year-old struggling to access second-level education, and called on the minister to act.
Bill and urgency
The bill in question dates from 2017 and Rose Conway-Walsh argued it must be enacted and implemented quickly to deliver joined-up services for autistic people. She framed the delay as causing real harm and insisted on urgency.
Medical card eligibility case
She read an extract of a letter sent to a 22-year-old autistic man informing him he had been selected for a review of eligibility for a medical card or a GP card and warning that if he did not submit an eligibility review application by the 1st of the 12th, 2021 his eligibility would expire on the 31st of the 12th. She described the young man as "absolutely distraught" after years of fighting for diagnosis, therapies and employment, and asked the minister to tell the medical card section to stop sending such letters to autistic young people.
Education and school services
She described a 15-year-old boy who is fighting to get into second-level school while the system argues with the school about the services required. She emphasised that schools, principals and teachers are not defrauding the system and that the necessary services must be provided so autistic pupils can receive their educational rights.
Appeal to the minister and agencies
Rose Conway-Walsh urged the minister to intervene, to speak with the medical card section and with the CNOS, and to change the system so that supports are put in place. Her repeated appeal focused on practical fixes - medical cards, GP cards, education supports and joined-up services.
Closing remarks
She concluded by thanking the minister and a colleague and reiterated the call for action to protect autistic young people and ensure access to supports and schooling.
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Thank you to the regional group for bringing this bill forward. The bill is 2017 and we are now in 2021. I think that speaks for itself. Minister, there is a lot in this bill that needs to be implemented. It is absolutely urgent that it goes through quickly. I note in it, in terms of the joined-up services and what it says about the need for joined-up services, and I want to just read you a small extract from what one government department has sent an autistic young man of 22 years of age. You have been selected for a review of your eligibility for a medical card or a GP card. Now, how do you think it feels for a 22-year-old autistic young man who has had to fight and fight and fight all the way through, right from diagnosis through to all the therapies, and who has now found a job for himself, and against all of the odds, has succeeded in that, and he has been selected. He was absolutely distraught, distraught about it. And then at the end of it, if you do not submit an eligibility review application by the 1st of the 12th, 2021, your eligibility will expire on the 31st of the 12th. This is how we are treating young people, autistic young people, and it is not right. And I would ask you, Minister, please talk to the medical card section. Please tell them that. If you have autism, if you have autism, if you are autistic, then you are going to be autistic throughout your life. If you are given the opportunities, you can live a very good life, and a very fulfilling life, and all of those things that some of my colleagues talked about here. But please tell the medical card section to stop sending out letters like that to autistic young people. Minister, I also have another case of a 15-year-old boy who is fighting to get into second-level school. And what is happening is that the system is arguing with the school around the services that need to be provided. Schools and school principals and teachers are not frauding the system. If they need the services in order to be able to meet the needs of autistic young people, to give them their educational rights, then they need those services. Please put them in place. Please talk to the CNOS. Please change the system. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Pauline. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Pauline. Thank you.
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