I was happy with how prepared our disabled daughter’s school was for outbreak
PARENTS of special-needs pupils around the country have been left in limbo when it comes to the reopening of special-needs classes. Here, two mothers detail the hell they are going through as their children continue to regress without classes.
‘IT IS EXASPERATING ...WE ARE LIVING HOUR TO HOUR’
A MOTHER of twin boys with autism and intellectual disabilities has said her family ‘are living hour to hour’ after the reopening of special schools was postponed.
Miriam Jennings said legal proceedings may be the only way to resolve the situation as delaying the return of special education is having a profound negative impact on affected children and families.
She said one of her boys has been banging his head off her car window and his seizures are ‘out of control’.
One son attends a school for children with severe-to-profound intellectual disabilities, while the other attends a school for children with additional needs and mild disabilities.
Ms Jennings, from Galway, told Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1 that her family did not know when there would be a school reopening date but the decision to keep them closed came as a huge blow.
She said: ‘I’m not quite sure where we’re going to pull from now. We are living hour to hour, that is no exaggeration.
‘My son has deteriorated so much – my son with severe autism – he needs his programmes, he needs school.
‘With individualised education plan philosophies, his daily living skills are delivered. Without those, and without having any understanding of why he cannot access these routines, his behaviour and his medical needs have deteriorated. He also has epilepsy, and his seizures are now out of control.
‘So, I’m liaising with his paediatrician, and we are trying to decide how to manage those.’
Due to the effect of the closure, her son has been banging his head against the car window – causing her to swerve off the road. Ms Jennings said: ‘I drove around Galway with him banging his head off the windows and off the inside of the car. He’s four stone heavier than me at this stage, and he’s trying to attack me when I’m driving.’
She described the handling of the reopening of special schools as ‘absolutely unbelievable’ and that there has been ‘a huge lack of humanity and a genuine understanding’ shown towards parents of children with special needs. She said she was in contact with teachers and SNAs who would be happy to go to work and teach children like her sons, but that the voices of these educators were not being heard. She continued: ‘There’s no such thing as no risk [when it comes to Covid]. We all know that.
‘We know we are living in a pandemic, but we are living in a crisis within the pandemic. We are living in an absolute mode of survival.’
She claimed there are many other parents in a similar situation to her, who would be willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to access what their families needed. Ms Jennings said legal proceedings around the delay, first issued on Monday, would now be continuing.
‘MY DAUGHTER CAN’T REMOTELY LEARN... WE HAVE BEEN LET DOWN REPEATEDLY’
LORRAINE Dempsey, who has a daughter with special needs, has said many parents feel ‘frustrated and worried’ about their children’s development as special schools remain closed.
The disability advocate said her 17-year-old daughter requires close contact in a classroom environment and cannot remotely learn.
‘My daughter has cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities,’ Ms Dempsey said.
‘The set-up they have in her school gave me the confidence that she would be safe if someone was infected with Covid.
‘I’m obviously disappointed that the schools weren’t opened this week, but equally disappointed that they weren’t supported right through this pandemic.
‘The Department of Education knew what the issues were and had ten months to put in contingency plans for further lockdowns.
‘They weren’t prepared for the inevitable and it’s left so many parents very frustrated and worried about their children’s progression.’