Michael Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald was the Henry Marsh Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin. He has clinically diagnosed over 5,000 individuals with Autism and Asperger’s syndrome and has served on the Government Task Force on Autism and the family as well as similar task forces for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. Michael undertook his internship at the Chicago Medical School U.S.A. in 1970 and worked as a junior doctor at St. Patrick’s Hospital Dublin from 1972 onwards. Then he worked at the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospital London and the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen’s Square, London from 1975 to 1978. Then in 1979 he was a senior registrar in Psychiatry at King’s College Hospital, London and the Hospital for Sick Childrens Group in London . He has been a consultant psychiatrist for the National Children’s Hospital Dublin (and later incorporated into the Adelaide and Meath Hospital), Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children Dublin , and the South Western Area Health Board in Dublin. He initiated the first Masters programme in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the 1980’s. In the 1990’s he developed with Dr. Mary Smith a Masters programme in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at Trinity College Dublin and with Nessa Childers, Ross Skelton, Ann Murphy and others a Masters programme in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at Trinity College Dublin. He founded the Journal the Irish Forum for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and the Irish Journal for Child Psychotherapy. He founded the Irish Standing Conference on Psychotherapy. He has been a tutor in Psychotherapy Queens University Belfast. He has supervised staff in training in psychotherapy at St. Ita’s Hospital, St. Loman’s Hospital, Artane Day Centre, Vergemount Hospital and St. Patrick’s Hospital Dublin. He was appointed to the Government Commission on the Family and also the Eastern Regional Health Authority Review Group on Autism as well as the Department of Education and Science Task Force on Autism. He has published contributions to the literature including books, peer reviewed papers, abstracts and letters to the editor of Peer Reviewed Journals. He has been chairman of the Board of Management of two Schools for children with autism, Ballyowen Meadows and Setanta, for over 21 years. He has contributed to the media on over 300 occasions and presented six programmes on adolescence for RTE TV. He was a judge at the Aer Lingus Young Scientists and later the ESAT exhibition. His book “Autism and Creativity – Is There a Link Between Autism in Men and Exceptional Ability”, Brunner Routledge Hove (2004) was described as the best book on Autism by Simon Baron-Cohen in Cambridge and as a ‘must read’ by nature. He has been an External Examiner at the University of London, Queens University Belfast and University College Dublin. He is on the (Adult) Psychiatry Specialist Medical Register and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Medical Register of the Irish Medical Council.