Keith Duffy has opened up about his daughter Mia's long battle to be correctly diagnosed with autism.
The singer and actor appeared on Lorraine on Tuesday where he spoke to stand-in host Cat Deeley.
Mia, now 21, was put on a waiting list of a whopping two-and-a-half years, leading to Keith, 46, and wife Lisa deciding to go private to speed things up.
Keith, who was in Boyzone alongside Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately in the 1990s, explained: "For so many children on the autism spectrum today, who are not getting the appropriate intervention and education programme, in this day and age it's crazy.
Cat replied: "You suspected as a parent, and it's that moment of the unknown, when you don't quite know what is happening, you're trying to get help, and you are facing all these different challenges.
"Was that scary for you?" she asked.
"It was absolutely terrifying," said Keith.
"We had Jordan in '96 and he was a typically developing baby, and that was quite exciting, we were new on having Jordan, and then four years later Mia came along.
"We didn't know what was going on, like most parents, we thought she might have had a hearing problem.
"We got a hearing test done and that was fine, and it takes you a while to figure out what is going on.
"We knew nothing about autism at the time, we hadn't a clue about what we were even looking for, so that was an even bigger obstacle for us to climb.
"When she was about 18 months old, this word autism kept coming into our lives, and we were put on a waiting list for diagnosis of two-and-a-half years, and yet anybody you speak to will tell you early intervention is essential for any child on the spectrum.
"So we were lucky enough that we were in the position where we could go private, and we got the diagnosis, but then everywhere we went doors were closed in our faces, everybody said no, so we decided we would never take no for an answer."
He continued: "Mia is doing fantastically well, I am very very proud of her, she is in her first year of university studying enterprise computing.
"At the moment she is in her ninth week of her internship with an American company, working remotely, a busy week.
"She is doing wonderfully well, and it's all down to the simple fact that at the right time, we managed to get the appropriate tailored education programme put in place for Mia, she responded very well and she's managed to reach her full potential in life."
* Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV at 9am
