Tag Archives: disability

A North Clare special needs child is the first in the county to receive an assistance dog from a new national charity. Karen Murtagh, who lives in Ennistymon, has described the arrival of Rocco, a nine-month-old black Labradoodle as a “godsend” for her son, Stephen (10), who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Stephen is one of the lucky children who are benefiting from 48 service dogs provided by My Canine Companion, which trains dogs to assist children and young adults living with ASD. It is the only charity that will give an assistance dog to a child over 10 years of age, as other organisations like to pair an animal with a younger child. Each dog costs the charity over €10,000 to train and Karen will have to raise half of this figure over the coming years. Businesses in Lahinch, where she was born on Main Street, are already rallying around this worthy cause. The 19th Bar in Lahinch has …

A CALL has gone out for Clare businesses to row in behind the annual National Supported Employment Week from Monday, April 7 to Sunday 13. Job Shadow Day (Wednesday) is the high point of the week and will see hundreds of people with disabilities take the opportunity to shadow a workplace mentor, as he or she goes about a normal working day. The Irish Association for Supported Employment (IASE) initiative seeks to encourage businesses throughout the country to support equal employment opportunities and sign up at www.iase.ie to participate. Last year, over 460 individuals with a disability shadowed at 439 employment sites in Ireland, with 27 securing a permanent job placement as a direct result. Following on from its success in Ireland, National Supported Employment Week is set to roll-out in Europe, with 12 countries already committed to take part in 2015. Many high profile individuals participated in Job Shadow Day last year, including Minister Joan Burton and Today FM …