A US expert on autism told the High Court yesterday that early, intensive and continuous therapeutic and educational treatment for children with autism was critical to improving their quality of life. Such treatment had led to many autistic children attending regular school and being able to take care of their basic needs and read and write.
Ms Elizabeth Austen, chief associate of the Chicago-based Elizabeth Austen Occupational Therapy Services, said she had been disappointed when she saw the state of a 22-year-old severely disabled and autistic man in Cork, whom she had treated briefly in his first year of life and again for four to five months in the US when he was three.
Mr Jamie Sinnott had made great progress and when he was returning to Ireland in 1980 she gave his mother a film outlining the nature of the therapy he had received and books and other materials to pass on to the appropriate services in Cork.
However, when she saw Mr Sinnott last year, for the first time since he was three, he was much worse than she expected. She understood that, from the time he returned to Ireland in 1980, he had gone for a long period without any educational programme.
The lack of continuity appeared to have led to regression and to his present state of learned helplessness. He would have to unlearn that helplessness, which could take years. It was her view that if there had been continuity of programmes he would have continued to make progress.
Had he received what he needed, the best-case scenario was that he would be toilet-trained, able to dress, have some form of basic language skills and some form of simple reading. In the worst-case scenario, he would have some communication skills at the 3/5-year level and be able to dress. Even the worst-case scenario would be significantly better than he was now, she said.
Ms Austen was giving evidence on the third day of an action by Mrs Kathryn Sinnott, of Ballinhassig, Co Cork, and her son, for a declaration that the State had breached their constitutional rights in failing to provide him with appropriate education. The Sinnotts want an order directing the State to provide such education now and are also seeking damages.
The Minister for Education and the State contend that appropriate education was provided and that they have no obligation to provide Mr Sinnott with free primary education once he is over 18.
Earlier, Ms Austen told Mr Michael Gleeson SC, for the Sinnotts, that she had worked with thousands of autistic children. She explained that autism included severe limitations in communication and development of speech, difficulty in interpersonal interaction, and severe limitations in sensory processing and in getting messages from the brain to the limbs.
She said that the range of symptoms could be treated, and the treatment was broadly educational. Early, intensive and continuous treatment was essential. She had never been involved in a programme where an autistic child had not improved.
The hearing continues today.