Tag Archives: Ennis Voices for Autism

A SPECIAL treat is in store for East Clare children when the Easter Bunny visits local playgrounds this Saturday. In addition to having their photograph taken with the Easter Bunny, children will receive an Easter Egg in five different playgrounds. What makes this initiative even sweeter is the fact that all donations will be collected for Ennis Voices for Autism (EVA) as part of their Easter Fundraiser. The Easter Bunny, aka Tina O’Loughlin from Broadford, will conduct a whistle-stop tour of the following playgrounds – O’Brien’s Bridge at 11am; Killaloe at 12 noon; Scariff at 1pm; Tulla at 2pm and Broadford at 3pm on Saturday, April 8. Last year, all the funds raised from this event went to Clare Crusaders, and this year EVA are delighted to be chosen as the beneficiary. The bucket collectors will include Ann Hickey, Lourda Doyle, Triona Cooney and Francis Ryan. In January 2012, a group of parents came together and formed EVA to support …

A LOCAL support group for children with Autism has organised a Special Needs Trust Planning Seminar for all parents of children with additional needs. This information seminar, which has been set up by Ennis Voices for Autism will be delivered by Financial Wellbeing in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis on Wednesday, November 9 from 8 to 8.45pm. Allan Cuthbert founded Financial Wellbeing in 2008, a company dedicated to Special Needs Trust Planning. It gives him great joy to help ease the financial worries of parents who are raising a child with additional needs. This is his way of helping parents who are constantly faced with difficult choices and challenges dealing with their child’s future needs. Dolores Crowley is involved in Financial Wellbeing because she feels she can understand parents, having been a carer for her mother for more than 30-years and now for her son, David, who has additional needs. “I want to be there to give parents the knowledge …

ENNIS Voices for Autism (EVA) has urged people in the Mid-West to learn more about Autism and how to accept Autistic people – children and adults alike. The group issued an appeal to embrace the Autistic community on World Autism Day (today). Originally World Autism Day was about awareness, but in more recent times the emphasis has moved on to acceptance of Autism and more importantly acceptance of Autistic people. Autism Acceptance Month gives Clare people an opportunity to celebrate the Autistic community, highlight the challenges Autistic people face in the county and educate the wider public to gain a better understanding of Autistic people in their own community. Autism is a complex, invisible condition, which a person is born with. It is a developmental condition, which means that the way a person communicates, interacts and understands other people, and the world, is different to those who do not have the condition. It can be described as a “spectrum”, which …

Plans have been unveiled for the re-opening of schools for children with special needs in Clare next Thursday much to the relief of local parents who have struggled to cope with the blanket school closure.   CLARE parents of children with special needs are hoping that Education Minister Normal Foley delivers on her promise of a phased re-opening of special schools next Thursday. In a letter sent to school principals on Friday, the Department of Education stated pupils in special schools will attend on alternate days, while pupils in specials classes in mainstream primary schools will attend every day. The department also outlined pupils with significant additional needs in mainstream classes in primary schools will have access to in-school teaching and learning. “All staff, including all teachers and special needs assistants, who work in special schools should return to work , other than in circumstances provided for by the occupational health scheme, or whose staff are on approved leave. Concern …

EDUCATION for children with special needs shouldn’t be stopped, despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, according to a local councillor. Councillor Ann Norton, who is concerned about the delay in rolling out July Provision, said this grant should have been allocated at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last March to give parents the option of availing of one-to-one tuition for their child. She proposed young student teachers who can’t get work experience could have been tasked with providing home tuition with all the necessary safeguards such as using personal protective equipment and the teacher conducting the work in one room with the child and without any contact with other people. “Children with special needs can’t sit around day after day after day. They need education and activities. “Parents still don’t know if July Provision is going ahead. There is no reason why a parent couldn’t get a teacher in for a few hours before children go back to school,” …

Dee Hogan, a behaviour and education integrated specialist, will give a talk at a public information and film night in Glór this Thursday night at 8 pm. Ms Hogan has over 30 years experience working in the area of special needs. She is a qualified Montessori teacher with a Master’s Degree in Special Education Autism from the University of Birmingham; and has a number of other qualifications. In addition to teaching in an autism unit attached to a mainstream school in North Tipperary, she is also a member of the team at the Child Development Centre in Galway. She provides training for teachers, third level students, parents and professionals with a specialised focus on behavioural interventions, autism, functional social skills and the design of highly-motivating individual education plans. She assists teachers to promote positive behaviour and manage challenging behaviour in and out of the classroom. There will also be a screening of the short movie Mission to Lars – a semi-documentary …