A Co Armagh mum fears she will have no choice but to home-school her son – who has severe learning difficulties – as he looks set to miss out on a Special Educational Needs (SEN) placement.
Jacqueline Carroll, from Killeavy, says her 11-year-old son Patrick is still waiting to find out what school he will be attending in September – just weeks out from the start of the new school year.
The pressure, Jacqueline says, is weighing quite heavily on their family, and in particular, Patrick, who lives by a routine.
“Patrick has autism, severe learning difficulties and he is non-verbal,” Jacqueline told Armagh I.
“He has communication and social interaction difficulties, along with emotional and wellbeing needs.”
Patrick attended nursery in Rathore Special School in Newry and it was during that year, at the age of four, he was diagnosed with autism.
The Education Authority informed Jacqueline that Patrick would need to attend an autism unit in a mainstream school.
Despite their most valiant attempts to keep Patrick at Rathore, a setting he loved, he was sent to St Joseph’s Primary School in Bessbrook.
Patrick faced huge difficulties and challenges, especially over the last three years; in particular both his P6 and P7 years, as he was separated from his peers, having been deemed unfit to transition to the learning support class, or mainstream class.
“Patrick continued to regress as a result of being in the wrong setting,” said Jacqueline.
“He missed out on education and therapies. We began the process of trying to transfer Patrick to Rathore Special School in Newry during his P6 year, as advised by all professionals involved, with the support of primary school, as they too agreed that a special school would be the most appropriate placement for his ever-increasing needs.”
However, Jacqueline was told that Rathore was oversubscribed and Patrick remained where he was for his final year.
Now, with the school oversubscribed once again, and no other school lined up – as yet – Jacqueline feels like she is being backed into a corner.
“It’s just a nightmare because we’re getting nowhere. The EA cannot offer us a place. We’re getting passed from one person to the next. We just don’t know what’s happening.
“I have a feeling they’re going to just randomly pick any kind of secondary school that can squeeze Patrick in, just for the sake of ticking him off, but even at this stage they haven’t even done that.”
Jacqueline is adamant Patrick would not be fit to cope in a mainstream high school.
“It just will not work. Patrick has severe needs and is non-verbal. For the last two years of primary school, he had two assistants and that was in a small setting. To go from class to class in a secondary setting just will not work for him.”
Jacqueline has stressed on many occasions over the years that Rathore is the best place for her son.
“We had wanted him to stay there all along but when he got diagnosed with autism, we were told by the EA that he would have to move to an autism class.
“This was the first time we went through this kind of process. We knew nothing at the time about autism. We didn’t know how severe his needs were and we went along with what they said because we thought these people know, but it’s quite clear that, no, it really shouldn’t have happened.”
Jacqueline says Patrick has been let down by the Education Authority.
“It has been horrendous at times, his time in primary school. I kept a diary and he was down to two hours a day. It took me 20 minutes to drive him there. I hadn’t even got back home to the house, after dropping him into school, and I’d have a phone call to come and pick him up.
“Like that is literally how we’ve lived the past two years, not knowing whether he was going to have a good day, or if the school were going to be able to cope. I couldn’t plan or do anything.”
She added: “Patrick has been in the system since the age of three. He will be 12 now in November. So he’s been in the system all these years. How did they not know, when he was getting to this age, that he’s going to need a space in a special school?”
Jacqueline manages Patrick’s schedule, and his understanding of that schedule with PECS cards – picture cards to help with communication.
“So we show Patrick a schedule of what he’s doing today. So when he’s at home, he knows the whole routine off; going to school and what time school starts, what time is home time. We either take photographs of things, print them out, laminate it and have it make the social stories. So he knows every detail of what’s happening but we can’t even do that at the moment.
“It’s such a massive change for children to leave their primary school and move to a completely different school but we can’t even explain any of that. We’re trying to protect Patrick, by keeping information from him, just so that it’s not going to make him further upset and it’s crazy. We just can’t prepare as we haven’t even got a school, let alone one that will actually suit him.
“It is difficult because I can look back to my daughter, when she had to transition from primary to secondary, it was so hard.
“I know, for Patrick, what the difference would be going into a specialist setting. I don’t think that transition would be as difficult when it’s the right setting because I know they can cope and they’re very specialised and he’d get all the therapies in his class. At the moment we have nothing.
“I have said to the EA that they are actually forcing us into home-schooling. He won’t be safe in the wrong setting.
“We would love him to be fit to go to that type of school but when you know, down the line, that’s not the future he’s going to have, it’s hard.
“We just love him so much. He’s our wee boy and he’s so affectionate. He just loves school and always wants to go to school, he just wants to do everything that’s on his wee schedule and he’s just being failed.”
Jacqueline says it has been difficult going public with their story but felt they had no other choice.
“We are very quiet people, we really are, we are so private, we do everything to help Patrick, and just to help him reach his potential.
“People wouldn’t know what’s going on so this is me coming and sharing the story of just how horrendous things actually are. And it’s exposing ourselves. We are just trying to fight for Patrick and be his voice to say, this is what’s happening.”
A spokesperson for the Education Authority (EA) said: “We fully understand that this is an anxious time for families and are committed to ensuring that all children with special educational needs (SEN) receive an appropriate school place that meets their needs.
“Unfortunately, as demand exceeds capacity for most schools, not all children can be placed in their parents’ preferred location. That said, all decisions on allocations will reflect the considered advice and input of relevant professionals and are taken in the context of the specific needs of the pupil.
“A designated Family Link Support Officer is supporting the family until an appropriate placement has been confirmed.”
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