Hi KittyKat,
Apologies for not getting back sooner and for all the cloak and dagger approach regarding your query.
Essentially our family is in an identaical suituation. Our youngest has been diagnosed for the past 3 years. He will be 6 this coming March.
The past 3 years have been turbelent to say the least. We threw ourselves into overdrive to try and overcome both the diagnosis and the obstacles that we would be facing. All the time our fella was our prime directive and we used all means possible to get him access to OT and Specch Therapy - both private and public (not that theres a lot available publicly - unless your willing to wait).
We first overcame the awful fact that Autisim is for life - harsh but oh so true. We spent every penny we could between OT /ST / group sessions, assessments etc etc. This does not come cheap. So the Incapacitated child tax credit does stretch a bit and we made it work.
Today, our fella is in Junior Infants in a mainstream school. They have an ASD unit which he attends and part-takes in the main classes as and when he can. He can now read to quiet a proficient degree and can still argue with his olders siblings and classmates. An improvment - oh yes. But what will the future bring??
We have cut his OT & SP for the moment. He seems not to need it. As for the tax - we are putting it aside for him. This was on the advice we got from an independant Financail Advisor who deals specifically with parents of special needs kids. I can't recommend him enough. He really did turn our lives around and set down some real home truths.
What does the future hold for our little fella - who knows. But with this tax being put aside for him at least this is one worry we won't have to deal with.
I would say keep it and save it. I can give you our FA's name. He's based in Cork but works country wide. He has been mentioned on this site before - nothing but good I asure you.
Feel free to get back to me at any stage.
Should have realised about the PM settings.
Regards,
TP.