Autistic child 'let down by the system'

A Raharney mother whose five-year-old son has been expelled from school says that he has been let down by the system.

Late last month the Board of Management at Coralstown National School wrote to Ann Mulvaney and her husband Declan to inform them that their son Tyler would be expelled.

The board stated that it decided to expel junior infant Tyler because his “behaviour constitutes a real and significant threat to his health and safety and that of pupils and staff” and that his “behaviour is a persistent cause of significant disruption to learning in the school”.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, Mrs Mulvaney said that her family are “disappointed” at the stance taken by school.

She believes that if staff at the school had received the correct training to deal with Tyler’s special needs (he has autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], Oppositional Defiant Disorder [ODD] and epilepsy), her son could be looking forward to entering senior infants this autumn. Instead he has enrolled in a new school.

Tyler has been off school since March 16, when he was suspended prior to his expulsion. He had also been suspended for two days in February.

Although the Mulvaneys held a number of meetings with the school and representatives from the Dept of Education and Irish Autism Action in a bid to resolve the matter, their worst fears were realised when they received the expulsion notice.

Mother of three Mrs Mulvaney says that the stress of the situation has had an impact on her entire family, and Tyler is worst affected.

“He has taken a number of seizures [since March 16] and he had been seizure-free for five months. He is a very busy child, always jolly and always had a smile.

“We have noticed his smile wearing off. It just hurts. He is only five years old. It’s the start of his education. He is also very upset that he doesn’t get to see his friends.”

In a statement issued to the Westmeath Examiner, Irish Autism Action (IAA) say they offered to make a behavioural analyst available to the school and “ to advise on specific strategies on how to work with the challenging behaviours, sometimes seen with autism”.

If the school had accepted the support at the time, IAA say that “there is a possibility that this junior infant may well have integrated back into school and all of this unnecessary stress on the child and family, could have been avoided.”

IAA’s CEO Brian Murnane said that he was surprised that the school did not avail of the offer for support.

“We usually see challenging behaviour as an issue with teenagers, not junior infants. Most schools, who typically lack specialised behavioural supports, will gladly avail of them to help their students.

“It is extremely disappointing to see such skills made available, but then ignored, as has happened here.

“More worryingly, there is no sanction on the school for a failure to seriously engage to properly integrate the child. There is, however, a serious penalty to be paid by the child, and by the child’s family.

“The child has already been out of school for nearly three months, which also highlights that processes currently in place are not fit for purpose and certainly do not put the needs of the child first.

“We need to have a child-centred approach to education and a better understanding of autism across society.

“This child is being failed by processes, systems and a board of management who clearly have shown that their priority was to remove the child.”

The Westmeath Examiner contacted the chairman of the school’s board of management Fr Tom Gilroy.

He said that it would be “completely inappropriate” for the board of management to comment on the matter.