Walk to raise funds for family sensory shed

“I read a quote before saying Autism mams have the same levels of stress as soldiers in combat, and you know what? I fully believe it”.

A sponsored walk is taking place in Corkagh Park on Saturday, September 27 in aid of Ballyfermot mother and her three autistic children.

Louise Lawlor is aiming to raise money to furnish a recently built sensory shed with much-needed sensory equipment that can cost three figures per item.

Louise detailed the difficulties she faces raising Aidan, Charlie and Matthew, from different forms of breakdowns to hospital visits.

“Charlie put his head through a bathroom window, like straight through the bathroom window, and the only reason he didn’t cut his head was because the blind had stopped him.

“In Our Lady’s when I brought him, this was in January, they said to me ‘Oh, that’s not severe enough. We can’t do anything for you.”

Charlie’s attacks, which ramped up in December, have also been directed at his mother – these could occur in a highly-stressful environment such as a hospital or when he is being put to bed for the evening.

“It was full force, like he’d take you with every bit of his strength and he’d headbutt you or he’d bite you…so I was getting phone calls every day from school.”

The walk for Louise’s sensory shed is being organised by two friends, Dan Murphy and Donna Dunbar, to help Louise achieve her target.

Dan set up a walk-and-talk group Getting Together at the start of the year and also has an autistic child.

“It’s to make money for people in need,” Dan says. “If people are out there struggling and they’re on their own…there’s a way that we can raise money for [them].”

Daily life for Louise is a different world to many other parents, things can go wrong at any moment.

Any sort of shake-ups to the flow of the day, such as forgetting milk at the store, can cause chaos.

Having a safe and calm environment readily available in their back garden could change the Lawlors’ lives, and yet Louise wishes to make it available to others in need at Christmas time in the form of an Autism-friendly Santa’s grotto.

“The people can come and see Santa, take their pictures and it won’t cost anything…It’s just something that any autistic mam can benefit from.”

An online fundraiser for the sensory shed on the website gofundme.com was set up in January, with over €3,500 raised so far – the target is set at €6,500.