Specialists in early intervention, behaviour and anxiety support, and life skills programmes for autistic children or those experiencing other neurodivergences.
Reach Children’s Services is a family-friendly, child-centered service here to help your child reach their full potential. Through meaningful assessment and ongoing communication, we work to understand your child’s existing abilities so that we can establish appropriate expectations for today, while constantly challenging them to reach beyond.
Our motto is ‘set up for success.’
We believe that intervention should celebrate the individual and be as natural as possible, especially if we are expecting families to be involved or follow plans at home. And we love to play. When it comes to our earliest learners, we believe that there’s no greater work than play. So all of our early intervention supports are embedded into play, while still adhering to the core values of our science.
Reach Children’s Services is led by:
Shannon Eidman is a Chartered Educational and Behavioural Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland, and a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA). She has been supporting individuals with neurodevelopmental differences across a range of settings for over 25 years and has presented in Ireland, the United States, and islands in the Caribbean on various topics related to behaviour support and designing effective learning supports.
Shannon began her career at the internationally renowned Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD, in the United States. While working in the Division of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrics, she worked with children diagnosed with a range of developmental and genetic conditions. She moved to Ireland and made it her home in 2008 to establish a special school for autistic children on behalf of a parent group. She has been providing training and behavioural support to families, schools, and service providers throughout Ireland since 2010.
While Shannon’s journey began with a focus on reducing high-risk behaviours in children requiring intensive support, as her career evolved, so did her passion. In recent years, Shannon has delved into specialist training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, expanding her scope to encompass mental health issues in youth. With a blend of personal, lived, and professional insights into neurodivergence, Shannon continues to empower and advocate for the thriving futures of neurodivergent children and youth.
Joeleen Lynch is a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway, having completed a Masters in Applied Behaviour Analysis, and is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA). She has worked in the field of Applied Behaviour Analysis since 2014, in a wide range of settings to include preschools, schools, the home and community providing training and individualized behaviour support to families and schools. She has a keen interest in early intervention and has completed the introductory workshop of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). Joeleen has extensive experience and strong interests in parent training and verbal behaviour.
The vast and comprehensive breadth of practical expertise enables Reach Children’s Services to offer truly personalized services to meet the unique needs of your child and family.
Extended Team
Lisa-Ann Roche, CORU registered Speech and Language Therapist.
Lisa-Ann is a proud Wexford woman who moved to Cork in 2003 to train to become a Speech & Language Therapist in University College Cork. She graduated with an Honours Degree in 2007 and made the big move to the Midlands where she has been ever since! Lisa-Ann joined the HSE in 2007 and worked in Primary Care and Disability teams gaining valuable experience from her fellow SLT colleagues and a vast multi-disciplinary team. Lisa-Ann began working in her private practice part-time in 2010 and in 2021 opened her full-time private clinic in Athlone. She recently moved to a short distance to Moate, Co. Westmeath where she opened her newly designed clinic in November 2022. Learn more about Lisa-Ann and Cocoon SLT.
Dr. Roberta Hines, BA, H.Dip Montessori, D.Psych.BAT, BCBA-D
Dr. Hines has over 20 years of experience in the field of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Education. She is the founder of Tiddlywinks & Scallywags Early Learning Centre where she specializes in creating enriched learning environments that foster the holistic growth of the child using the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis and Montessori education. Roberta has received advanced training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfullness-based Interventions and has hosted related online and in-person training courses for childcare professionals as well as parents. Roberta has also completed training in the ADOS-2. At Reach, Dr. Hines assists with autism assessments and is available to provide online parent support.
Sarah Cassidy, PhD, Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychologist (Clinical Consultant to Reach Children’s Services).
Dr. Cassidy specialises in the assessment and treatment of learning, emotional/behavioural difficulties, mental health difficulties and neurodevelopmental differences with clinical populations. She is the Founder and Director at Smithsfield Clinic, a private psychology service in Ireland for children, adolescents and their families using only evidence based scientific treatment methods. She has also worked as an educational psychologist within the Irish school system for the last 20 years, conducting assessments and advising parents and schools how to best support children with learning and emotional/behavioural challenges. In this context, she has developed classroom and school wide interventions for improving educational, behavioural and mental health outcomes. Dr. Cassidy, alongside Dr. Lisa Coyne, has opened the New England Centre for OCD and Anxiety Irish Midlands Branch Ireland’s first specialist clinic devoted to the assessment and treatment of severe anxiety and OCD. Dr. Cassidy has also recently released two children’s book, Tired of Anxiety – A Kid’s Guide to Befriending Scary Thoughts and Living your Life Anyway and Tired of Teen Anxiety – A Young Person’s Guide to Discovering Your Best Life (And Becoming Your Best Self).