Mayo dad fights for inclusive education for children with additional needs

A MAYO dad has taken to social media to highlight the educational barriers facing children who have additional needs.

Eamon Byrne, from Kiltimagh, has a very simple request: that his son, who is due to move on to secondary school, gets to grow up in his community, not be sent out of it.

Eamon and wife Martina have been informed by special education needs authorities that there will be no investment made in their local secondary school to accommodate their son so that he may attend mainstream school.

In a public post shared many times on Facebook, Eamon explained the family's plight:

'Please take a moment to read as I just want the public to realise how difficult it is sometimes for kids with additional needs, the barriers put up as they try to make their way through their young life. I wouldn’t normally take to social media about my family but I am on my knees right now.

'As a parent, you always want the best for your child in every avenue in life. When it comes to the education of your child, this is their right by law. For some children this right can be very difficult if you don’t fit inside the box and do as directed by people who are paid to have your child’s best interest at heart.

'At the moment, my wife, Martina, and I are going through the process of registering our child Josh for secondary school. This should be an exciting time, the next big step in your child’s education and a big part of your child’s teenage life.

'However, this is not the case if your child has additional needs. The process is extremely stressful for parents going through the transition process.

'We want our child to attend his local secondary school (St. Louis CS) in the town he knows and potentially will spend a good part of his life in. Martina and I have sat through numerous Zoom meetings, listened carefully to everyone and all the concerns and potential issues that may arise in our child attending a mainstream school.

'In the ideal world, there would now be someone making sure that resources are in place to cater for the child’s needs to make sure this child is given every chance to reach his full potential.

'However, it seems reality is much different. The child appears to be the last thing that matters in Ireland 2021 and the wishes of the parent are just that – wishes.'

He continued: 'We have been told by the Seno and NCSE there will be no investment in our local secondary school to accommodate the needs of our child, maybe even no further SNA support for an already stretched resource in the school.

'Instead, we’ve been told there are other towns nearby with a space in an ASD classroom.

'It is soul destroying to hear from someone that your child’s needs will not be met in a school you wish him to attend. The irony is you’re told it’s your choice where you wish to send your child to secondary school but then in the same breath, it’s made virtually impossible for you to do so.

'It’s these people’s jobs to make sure children are given a fair shot at life, especially the kids that have to work so hard to fit in to our society, our norms. We cannot and should not expect these children to continue to suffer because people that should know better are more concerned about budgets than the actual child.

'Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

'Martina and I feel we are letting Josh down. Are we not shouting loud enough for help? Why is everything a fight? Should parents have to feel so helpless when looking for so little?

'Why must we have to consider for the second time in his young life taking him away from everyone he knows just so other people don’t have to think harder for solutions? Does he not deserve to be with people he knows in a town he has grown up in?

'Consider him for one second; he exists, he laughs, he cries, he feels like us all.

'This is Ireland 2021. How much longer is it going to be OK to not to support every child? Can we not invest in the child to allow them to reach their goals?

'I am only asking for fairness, for government to take a child centred approach and make real progress in how we look at inclusion. To me, inclusion starts at home - your family, your friends and your community.

'We wish for our child to grow up in his community, not be sent out of it.

'I ask, am I wrong?

'Thanks for reading.

'Please share for change.'