School place shortage for children with ASD sparks worry for parents
A Cavan mum says she is “sick with worry” struggling to find a school place for her young daughter with autism for the new term starting September 2019.
Noeleen Smith from Ballyjamesduff began hunting over a year ago for a place for four-year-old Aoibhinn.
Five school applications later and Noeleen has hit a brick wall. Every school she has contacted so far has told her a place for Aoibhinn will only emerge if a student ahead of her leaves, or is integrated fully into mainstream learning.
“There is just no room, that’s what I’m finding, and it’s the same all over Cavan. There are other parents of children with autism in the same situation, who like me haven’t a clue where they’ll be sending their kids,” says Noeleen, who is calling on the government to provide more resources to schools with ASD units in the county, where she says there is “clearly demand” .
A recent social media post by Noeleen garnered dozens of comments from others who found themselves in a similarly difficult position.
Noeleen’s frustrations are compounded further by news that a new ASD unit at St Clare’s National School won’t be ready in time. Currently at design phase, having been granted approval last January, the new unit is not expected to be ready until September 2020 at the earliest.
Hope
The matter was most recently raised in the Dáil via a Parliamentary Question tabled by Fianna Fail Cavan-Monaghan, Niamh Smyth, and for discussion on foot of a motion at the recent monthly meeting of elected members to Cavan County Council by Shane P O’Reilly.
The situation has left Noeleen in a difficult position. She continues to wait in hope that a place could open up and is investigating the option of home schooling.
Aoibhinn turns five in December, and at present attends the Early Intervention Unit at St Kilian’s National School in Mullagh. It’s her second year attending and, although she is first on the list for a place, Noeleen has been told the chance of a place appearing is “slim”.
The distance between the Smith family home on the outskirts of Ballyjamesduff means Aoibhinn already takes a two-hour round trip by bus each day, another reason why a new ASD unit in the locality of Ballyjamesduff would have been so ideal.
Noeleen visibly swells with pride when describing her daughter’s character.
“She’s the boss. She’s just great. She loves the outdoors, and is fascinated by nature and bugs, and caterpillars turning into butterflies.”
The youngest of three siblings, Aoibhinn, was diagnosed with ASD in April 2016. While she met various early developmental milestones, her development did slow.
Noeleen fetches a photograph of her daughter, carefree and captured during the summer months in a near hip-high meadow, with wild flowers and tall grass in abundance.
“That’s our Aoibhinn. That’s her in her element.”
The idyllic image portrayed was taken however at a time of great frustration as, with school finished, Aoibhinn had little or no routine.
“It was really hard for her. Then when she went back to school, she settled. She’s now just so calm, there’s no frustration in her, she’s happy. I hate seeing her as anything other, and that’s what I’m afraid of unless we can get her a school place for next year.
“She needs routine, she needs to know what’s happening. So what can she do when I don’t even know what’s happening for her come September? It’s very frustrating... and very upsetting... nobody seems to have a straight answer on this.”
Answers
One option available is the prospect of establishing temporary accommodation but, like the chance of finding a school place, it too is up in the air with no confirmation at this stage.
“What is that going to be, and where?” asks Noeleen, who last year with her family launched an album titled ‘Perspectives’, raising in excess of €20,000 for local charity Cavan Autism Parents Support (CAPS). “There is a reason special units are built for ASD kids. I’m afraid of what this temporary accommodation is going to be. Is it going to have all the equipment the kids need? We need answers.”
Home tuition is not ideal either, says Noeleen, and believes it would serve only as a “step back” for her daughter.
“When Aoibhinn started school, she used to kick her legs. Her legs would be covered in bruises, and she’d bang her head. It was a coping mechanism. Now she gets on the bus, goes to school, comes home. She’s a different child than what she was, she has progressed so much. She’s not being deprived of the education she deserves, and I think a return to home schooling would be a step back for her, and that wouldn’t be fair.”
The failure to deliver such essential supports for children with autism and special educational needs Noeleen says is both “deeply frustrating and very upsetting”, and she also is calling for the myriad of red tape surrounding the development of ASD units to be slashed in order to “fast-track” such projects.
Less of a priority
Noeleen highlights a recent case of a mother in Co Meath who expressed delight that the necessary resources have been provided to open an ASD unit in temporary accommodation in 2019 at St Peter’s in Dunboyne.
“There was an ASD unit sanctioned in that school two years ago, but no provisions were ever made. Delighted!? It’s not fair she should ever have to resort to temporary accommodation. It shouldn’t be this hard to give your child an education like every other child. It feels as if they’re seen as less of a priority to every other kid, and they’re not. Aoibhinn, like other children with autism, just has a different way of learning, and like other children they need to be respected,” says Noeleen.
When contacted, principal of St Clare’s National School in Ballyjamesduff, Karl McCartin, informed The Anglo-Celt that the contracts with architects had been signed. He added that: “The new ASD unit is going ahead at St Clare’s, and all procedures and guidelines are being adhered to.”
He added: “We look forward to opening our new unit and to continue to provide educational services for all children of the community within the time-frame the project allows.”