Cork special school compared to ‘old-fashioned orphanage’

The condition of a school for children with autism and profound intellectual disabilities in Co Cork has been compared to that of an orphanage in an underdeveloped country.

Parents say St Gabriel's Special School in Bishopstown does not have adequate toilet space or ramps for wheelchairs, has a leaking roof and an unreliable heating system.

They say the school, which has 43 pupils aged between four and 18, has not received any major refurbishment since it opened 20 years ago and students are going without physiotherapy/occupational therapy rooms or a sensory garden.

Concerned parents and the school's management have set up a Go Fund Me page in an attempt to raise funds after growing frustrated at the lack of action on addressing the issues by the Department of Education.

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Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin raised its case with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil this week, saying he was shocked to hear that the so called sensory room was a "windowless outbuilding".

‘Forgotten’

“The parents say they feel forgotten. These are children who should be our number one priority,” he said.

Sinead Desmond, chair of St Gabriel's Parent's Association, says the principal and teachers do everything in their power to assist the students, who are all non verbal, but that the primitive surroundings they find themselves in make this difficult.

Ms Desmond said that when the building was originally purchased in the 1990s it was never intended for use as a special needs school. She said it was not suitably upgraded and the conditions resemble those seen in documentaries about old-fashioned orphanages in underdeveloped countries.

“This is happening in Cork. My son Max’s wheelchair doesn’t fit in to the toilets in the school. So there are no toilet facilities for children in wheelchairs. It is fine when Max is seven and he is small and they can lift him on to a changing bed,” she said. “But they have men there who are 17 and 18 years old and are 6ft tall with complex medical needs. They are trying to maintain their dignity and they can’t. “

Ms Desmond said many of the children have compromised immune systems which leave them vulnerable to infection in bad conditions.

Blessing

She said the school’s principal gave parents her blessing to speak out about the issues because they are running out of time after years of unsuccessfully applying for funding.

“Our children only get one shot at childhood. Their childhood already has so many limitations and struggles that their school building really shouldn’t be one of them,” she said. “In Max’s classroom you used to have to open the door and stand back and a gush of dirty water from the roof would fall down. They had buckets collecting water in the classroom. The children in the senior side have nothing.”

She added: “Regardless of how bad the building is (the students) love going to school every day. They love the staff. The principal is like a mom to those children but this building is substandard.”

St Gabriel’s Special School, which is under the patronage of the Brothers of Charity Southern Services, is hoping to raise €200,000 through its online appeal.

A Department of Education spokesman said the Government was committed to ensuring every child with special educational needs had the opportunity to fulfil their potential. He said the department was aware of the accommodation needs at St Gabriel’s and is committed to working with the school to address these.