b'SENSATIONALKIDSBENEFITSTHE1IN4 CHILDRENINIRELANDWHOHAVESPECIAL EDUCATIONALNEEDS,SUCHASAUTISM, DOWNSYNDROME,DYSLEXIAANDDYS-PRAXIA. BY PROVIDING A RANGE OF CLIN-ICAL AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES WITH A HIGHLY-SKILLED CLINICAL TEAM, IT BENEFITS CHILDREN OF ALL AGES AND ALL ABILITIES TOENABLETHEMTODEVELOPTOTHEIR FULL POTENTIAL.THEORGANIZATIONWASCurrently there are 45,000 children in Ireland on wait-FOUNDEDBYKARENLEIGH, ing lists for therapy services, says Karen. Families are of-a mother who found she needed services for her son, Con- ten looking at waiting lists of three years and more. We nor. Karen also found that they were on a governmentknow that early intervention is crucial for children with waiting list that was years-long for those services andadditional needs. Thats where Sensational Kids comes in. therapies Connor needed immediately to help him getIt bridges the gap between public and expensive private ahead. Private therapies were available but costly and outtherapy services, and we ensure it is accessible for children of reach to most families.who otherwise might not receive any therapies at all.Some people might feel stuck, but Karen decided toSensationalKidsisnowprovidingonce-unattainable set up Sensational Kids in 2007 to fill a need for familiesservices to families who previously had very little hope or like hers. Today, Sensational Kids is providing occupationalchances for their children. Our services are affordable therapy, speech and language therapy, play therapy andthanks to our donors, says Karen. Our ethos is that no educationalpsychologicalassessmentstothousandsofchild is ever turned away.children.connect 202031'