LOCAL PEOPLE came out yesterday in support of the family of a child with Down syndrome whose special needs assistant provision has been cut from 25 hours a week to five.
Annabelle and Andrew Boyle, parents of seven-year-old Zoe, were joined by up to 120 supporters yesterday for a protest outside Araglin National School, near Kilworth in north Cork.
For the past two years a special needs assistant has been looking after Zoe at school for five hours a day. However, last June it was decided to cut Zoe’s special needs support to just one hour a day.
One week into their daughter’s new regime in first class, Zoe’s parents say regression is already evident. “We are extremely worried about how Zoe has regressed over the past week. She cannot communicate to express herself and it’s difficult for her to do things on her own in school. She needs support,” Mr Boyle said.
Zoe had the full-time support of assistant Miriam O’Donoghue for the past two years at Araglin National School. The child’s parents say they cannot understand the decision.
“We were horrified to find her hours were being cut. She needs help with basics such as using the toilet and guidance with her classroom tasks. This is going to knock her back so much, it’s incomprehensible why the school decided the [assistant] wasn’t needed,” Mr Boyle said. He said the decision went against all professional medical advice the Boyles had sought.
Dr Charl Pretorius, clinical psychologist at St Joseph’s Foundation in Charleville, said Zoe had been benefiting hugely from one-to-one support.
In a letter to the authorities, Dr Pretorius said such a cut in special needs support would reverse the advances Zoe had made.
“Zoe’s reliance on her [special needs assistant] is not artificially created, but directly based on her actual needs. Greater independence can definitely be scaffolded over time. However, simply removing this support at a whim is setting her up to fail,” he said.
Archbishop Dermot Clifford has written to the National Council for Special Education asking them to look favourably on reinstating Zoe’s assistant for five hours a day.
The National Council for Special Education has said it will carry out a review of Zoe’s situation and make a decision on the case on September 26th.