25 signatures reached
To: Education Minister Helen McEntee and Michael Moynihan TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion.
A space for every child: Autism classes in every community
Dear Minister McEntee and Minister Moynihan,
My name is Dawn Bennett, and I’m the mother of Jamie, an 11-year-old boy who is autistic and currently attending a primary school autism unit in West Clare. In just over a year, Jamie will need a secondary school place but there are no autism classes or suitable placements available in our area. The nearest options are over 45 kilometres away, which would mean long, distressing commutes and separation from his community.
Today it is Jamie, tomorrow it is another child in the same situation. Enough is enough. Every child in Ireland deserves equal access to education, close to home and within their own community, regardless of their needs or diagnosis.
I urge you to ensure that every primary and post-primary school in Ireland has an autism class attached.
Why is this important?
Right now, one in 20 schoolchildren in Ireland are being diagnosed with autism, that’s a threefold increase in less than a decade. Yet there are still huge gaps in access to appropriate education, on both primary and secondary school-level.
Children like Jamie are not asking for special treatment, only for equal access to education within their own communities. Uprooting autistic children from familiar surroundings, routines, and peers causes unnecessary distress and isolates them from the place they call home.
Every child deserves an education where they feel included, supported, and seen, without having to travel miles away just to be accepted. It’s time to make sure that no family has to fight this same battle again.