‘It breaks my heart that my son might not be able to go back to school’
COVID GUIDELINES MAY MEAN DISABLED KYREESE IS UNABLE TO RETURN
A MUM says her disabled son will be ‘heartbroken’ if he cannot return to school after months of lockdown, which has badly affected his mental wellbeing.
Teresa Norman’s son Kyreese, 14, who is blind and has cerebral palsy, has become sad and withdrawn after months of lockdown at their home in Rawthorpe, Huddersfield.
The single mum-of-two had been hoping Kyreese can return to Castle Hill School at Newsome, Huddersfield next week.
However, Teresa says Covid-19 guidelines relating to children with tracheostomy (windpipe) tubes may mean he won’t be able to return, despite the school’s best efforts to accommodate his needs.
She told the Examiner that Kyreese cannot swallow on his own and so his airway has to be cleared throughout the day in a process which used to be straightforward but now, due to Covid19 guidance, had become more complicated.
The school, she says, has been told it would need a ventilated room and each ‘suction’ procedure might take up to an hour, rather than a few minutes when it was carried out in the classroom.
“Castle Hill are saying they cannot offer what the Government is asking for.
“My boy won’t reach adulthood and he doesn’t enjoy a lot of things but school is a massive part of his life.
“It’s crazy how much he loves school. He would go all the time if he could. He loves the social side, the soft play, the trampolining and the interaction with his teachers and peers. He used to visit a nursing home with school and became friends with an old lady there.”
Teresa described the general Covid19 guidelines as “ridiculous”, “contradictory” and unfair on disabled children who were being treated as if they were coronavirus carriers.
“I don’t blame his school for this. His teacher has been fantastic and the viceprincipal is trying to get him back into school.”
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Teresa has been offered ‘outreach education’ - a teacher visiting her home - but says her son would find it too unsettling.
She says Kyreese is already at a low ebb after months away from school during lockdown.
“Kyreese was a happy boy but now has anxiety and low mood. I took my children out of school a week before lockdown and only in the last two weeks have I taken him to the supermarket.
“A month into lockdown he started going quiet.
“My daughter Shawnda, eight, goes back next Tuesday. When Kyreese hears his sister is going to school and he’s not going, he is going to be heartbroken.
“It’s sad and it’s awful. I have kept him in the house because that what we were told to do. I am now petrified for him and it breaks my heart that my boy won’t be going to school.
“We don’t know what’s happening.”
Teresa says that her son’s mood was so low that a doctor had wanted to prescribe risperidone, a drug used to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and irritability associated with autism.
However, she believes this would amount to ‘sedating’ her son which she does not want to do.
“I am looking around for alternatives,” she said. “I don’t want to put him on a drug which is used to treat schizophrenia.”
A spokesman for Castle Hill School said: “We are working hard to ensure that all of our students needs are met as we move towards re-opening in September.
“We continue to follow Government guidelines and consult with families, medical practitioners and social care professionals to ensure that risks are assessed regarding each student’s specific needs.
“As a result we remain optimistic regarding a robust educational offer for all our students in the coming term.”