An 11-year-old girl will be taking on the Junior Cert math’s exam in a bid to raise funds for autism services in South Tipperary.
Cara Darmody has two brothers who are autistic and attend Scoil Chormaic Special School in Cashel.
The Ardfinnan fifth class student has set up a Go Fund Me account which has raised almost €2,000 in just four days, well on the way to her €10,000 target.
Cara spoke on Tipp Today about why fundraising for autism services is needed.
“I have two severely autistic brothers, they are ages 9 and 5 and they’re non-verbal. They don’t understand comprehension that much and they need services, but the HSE are not giving them the services.
“The HSE are saying they’ll give them services, but it’s like they’re all talk and there’s no action.
“It means that they don’t get the services, they don’t get the things they need, like OT, speech and language and play therapy and all that.
“These kids who have autism, they deserve better – the HSE needs to give them more services.”
Her father Mark added that there’s a serious issue in South Tipperary with lack of autism services. He said that there’s no speech and language, occupational therapy or psychology.
“Families have basically nowhere to turn to.”
To donate to the fund, visit the link here
