Autism diagnosisFiona wouldn’t have known it at the time, but she would later be threatened with prosecution over her son’s school attendance. A sharp rise in daily absences post-pandemic sparked a renewed focus here on school attendance. However, research from Britain indicates that there is a very common link between school attendance problems, emotional distress, and neurodiversity. School 'distress' over 'avoidance'Sinéad Mullally, a lecturer in neuropsychology at Newcastle University, advocates for the term “school distress” instead of “school avoidance”. Like Ireland, there has been a renewed interest in school attendance in Britain following the pandemic.

Source: Irish Examiner March 23, 2026 01:08 UTC