This article is from page 4 of the 2008-02-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
CLARE people are being forced into extensive fundraising activity in order to bridge the gaps in the HSE speech and language service for children with Downs Syndrome in Clare.
Despite the appointment of addi- tional speech and language therapists for the county, the Clare Branch of Downs Syndrome Ireland admit that there are still some Clare children who have never been seen by a HSE therapist.
‘Because there is such a gap in speech therapy for a lot of people, with a lot of kids and adults never having had any speech therapy from the HSE, we try and alleviate that by part funding a speech therapist along with the family,” said Margaret Dix- on, secretary of the Clare branch of Down Syndrome Ireland.
“It is very important that these children get early intervention, from birth right up to six years old. This time forms the seeds of how they will develop into adulthood. If they get this, they will find it a little bit
easier in school and the whole way up along.
“Besides supporting people with Downs Syndrome, the local branch also run a number of activities to help the families of those effected.
“It’s very important to have support eroups. It’s areal help. If you’re a new parent, to be able to talk to someone who is a parent for a couple of years in a great thing,’ said John O’Brien who four year old daughter Megan suffers from Downs Syndrome.
The Clare Branch of Down Syn- drome Ireland will hold it’s AGM
on March 6 in the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis. The Arch Club social club for sufferers takes place in Ennis every Saturday evening – contact 065 6824565 for more info.
Resent fundraising includes €7,500 raised by Deirdre Rafferty, Collette O’Brien, Carol O’ Reilly and Martina Ryan at the Dublin Marathon and €1500 raised by the Ennis Leisure Centre.