“Our Son had no major problems in Primary School, he was happy and relaxed. His school work was excellent.Joined school committees and acted as a mentor for younger pupils. However all this changed when he started Secondary School. The first year wasn’t too bad and as he is our youngest we knew there would be a transition period. At the start of second year, he developed migraines and would be physically sick most mornings. His Doctor put it down to hormones. He tired CBT, Bio-energy, kinesiology. Eventually he was put on anti-depressants and started counselling. Nothing seemed to work. The school he attended was very supportive but he just couldn’t go through the door. There was no issue with any one teacher or pupil. He could not explain why he felt the way he did. Things came to a head early in 2015 and I contacted a relative of mine for advise, as he had been IN THE SYSTEM for almost a year and nothing was changing, in fact it was getting much worse. She referred us to a family counsellor. He asked us how long had our Son been diagnosed with Asperger’s. This was a huge shock as no one had mentioned anything like this to us, in over two years of visiting doctors, attending physiatrists & counsellors. Our Son was diagnosed a month later and we thought, at last we now can move forward. While his school was extremely understanding there was nothing they could do. We had no option but to take him out of school. Everyone was very understanding but no one could offer us any suggestions regarding his education. One day while reading information on the Autism Ireland website I saw details for the Purple Learning project and the Homework Club. After reading up on it I contacted Dr Naoisé and we arranged a meeting.
At Our first meeting with Dr Naoisé, she assessed Our Son by asking a series of questions and getting him to do different puzzles. The meeting took about an hour. In that time She was able to determine what subjects He would enjoy and excel at. She recommend two teachers who would start working with him online. Doing Maths and History. This proved so effective that we increased the classes to include more subjects. Within four months of starting the programme he was off his anti-depressants and signed off from the Physiatrist. He has just finished his first school year, working at home with teachers recommended by Dr Naoisé. The difference in him is amazing,he is once again happy and relaxed. He loves the lessons, there is very little homework but he does research and reads any material that is recommended. He is already talking about what college he’d like to attend. He has two years until His Leaving Certificate. Dr Naoisé keeps in regular contact and is always on hand to answer any queries etc. Without a doubt this programme has changed our Son’s life. I did worry that with him not attending a regular school he would miss out on other things, like friends, etc. But this has not been the case, he is in regular contact with his friends and he has even started back at his favourite pastime, Soccer. I don’t know if he will ever attend main stream secondary school again, it no longer is an issue. Having him educated in a way that he thrives in, is all you want as a parent and we have found a way to give him that, with the help of Dr Naoisé and Her team.”
Irish Parent