"The state has failed Noah, " she said.

"The lack of knowledge out there and the lack of support has been absolutely shocking. I would say everything that has been done for Noah has been done through me and me alone. The state has not helped him in any way."

At the moment, there is no school in Kerry that can give Noah a full-time specialist education. Noah is non-verbal autistic, but his speech therapy is reduced to half-an-hour a week for six week blocks that come round three times a year. He has received no occupational therapy in over a year and even then it was extremely limited.

Sheehan, a former secondary school teacher, now educates Noah at home, but knows that she alone cannot provide everything her son needs. "With the right intervention, Noah could improve so much, " she said. "But there is nothing for him here in Kerry. It's possibly one of the worst places in the country to live in terms of these kinds of services."

It took two years to diagnose Noah as autistic, despite several visits to three doctors, two days' hospital observation and Sheehan's insistence all along that something was wrong. When she got Noah assessed privately, autism was diagnosed almost immediately. Since then, Noah has been offered support in "dribs and drabs".

For two years he was given three 40minute sessions a week in a TEACCHmethod school (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children). He attended a special class in his local primary school for a further two years until he turned six and had to leave. He was only assessed by an educational psychologist when Autism Action Ireland set up its own diagnostic centre.

The psychologist was shocked at the lack of support he had received.

Now that Noah is seven, it is critical that he gets the right treatment soon, if he is to be able to lead a quality life. But Sheehan fears she will have to take matters into her own hands.

"At this stage I've almost given up. I don't have time to ring up the Department of Education every day and send reams of letters. That is time I need to spend educating my son. I'm beginning to think I'll just have to leave the country and go to America, if possible, or else England, to get him the services he deserves."

Since June, Sheehan has sent three letters to the Department of Education outlining her plans for Noah and asking for help and advice. She has received no reply.

"They haven't answered, " she said.

"They never answer. They don't want to know."