The mum of an autistic teen has revealed how the brave school kid has overcome bullying to become a champion breakdancer.
Jack Doyle, 15, from Ballymun, North Dublin, was diagnosed with autism when he was eight. and due to his condition he was targeted by bullies.
But his mother Rose revealed how he managed to turn the negative experience into a positive.
Last year his dance crew House Of Swag in Swords, became world champion break=dancers at the UDO competitions and now they have their sights on the 2024 Olympics – when the sport will be permitted for the first time.
Rose said she was told by medical experts never to expect much from her only son and “not to waste time on him.”
She added: “I am absolutely thrilled for him and everything he has gone through, to be a champion dancer now and gaining such confidence.
“He loves dancing, he eats dreams and sleeps dancing.
“I was told when he was younger not to waste time on him, that he wouldn’t amount to much.
“Clinical so-called ‘experts’ told me that about him as a child. Look at him now, he is a brilliant child.
“I always held back with him, when he joined House Of Swag I told his teachers Nelly and Lauren he was not there for championships or competitions, it was only for social skills.
“But both teachers saw his potential and told me I was wrong. Only for them, he wouldn’t be where he is.
“That whole class, the school, his fellow dancers and his teachers, they are the ones who said, ‘Rose, he is well able, let him do it.’
“He is with the right people. You have to put the work in and be around the right people. If I had listened to these doctors and medical team, Jack would have gone nowhere.”
Rose said her son was diagnosed with autism after several years of investigations. She added: “There was a lot of issues, even in creche.
“If he changed arrangements, and if someone else was collecting him, even if he knew them, he would have an emotional outburst.
“He had tantrums in the shops and huge emotional responses, it is very hard to deal with.
“I think the hardest part is he looks so normal and when children like Jack behave like that outside, people think they are a bold child when they’re not.
“He got into the system, and it got into long assessment.
“They didn’t diagnose him quickly, in fact, they said it could have been an only child syndrome, which I didn’t even know existed.
“There were processes for all of these things before he got a diagnosis.
“I was offered medication and I refused it. I was terrified of it.
“I did everything in my power not to medicate him. I did all the programmes and all the different courses to learn techniques, I put everything into place for him at home.
“You think you’re on top of it and then it spirals out of control. It is a very unpredictable condition.
“Then something comes out of the blue and you try to understand.
“The best thing I got out of the courses was meeting other parents who are going through the same thing.”
Jack has an old sister April, 24, who introduced her little brother to House Of Swag.
Rose said: “He was in boxing, karate, dance, you name it, I wanted to help him use his energy and have social skills.
“In school in Ballymun, he was bullied really badly by kids that I just think didn’t understand, they were too young. I then moved him to another school in Dublin, that was a very slow process and I spent weeks bringing him over and settling him.
“But the first day he started, the principal and teachers who got to know him in the transition had left and it was awful for Jack.
“In that school, he was bullied too, not by the kids but by parents.
“It was a horrible experience. They had no patience for him. I took him out after a year and home schooled him.
“He is now seven years with House Of Swag. Something clicked with this school.
“Jack’s crew won the UDO world championships last year and they’ve gone on to win so many competitions.
“Now they want to go to the Olympics, that’s their dream.”
Rose added dancing has been hugely beneficial for Jack.
She said: “Things aren’t as bad now with him, the biggest problem is anxiety as a teenager.
“There is the routine and that helps and he is learning management skills, he doesn’t have meltdowns, but the anxiety is a killer.
“But it hasn’t stopped him, and he is still learning to manage his feelings, we are just so proud of him and all he has been through.”
