Thugs steal autistic boy’s voice and wreck school

THIEVES who wrecked a special school and robbed computers worth thousands of euro have also stolen a little boy’s voice.

Seven-year-old Evan Murphy is autistic and speaks only with the help of a specially programmed, voice-activated palm-held computer. When he touches pictures on the computer screen, a pre-programmed voice speaks for him. “When Evan wants to speak to us, he uses this computer. He couldn’t grasp sign language and this computer is his only way of communicating with the outside world,” his mother Susan said yesterday.

“When he wants something, the computer speaks for him and says, ‘I want.’ He then touches different pictures which help him say things like ‘I want to go to the toilet’ or ‘I want a drink.’ This equipment is no good to anyone. They stole it and left the charger behind. After 12 hours, the computer dies and will begin to reconfigure. All the pictures that have been programmed in will begin to fade.” Susan has three other children, Shane, 18, Rebecca, 13, and Rachel 11. Her husband Timmy works as a production manager in a local factory, and she is also busy working part-time in Wexford General Hospital and is studying psychology in Maynooth college.

Parents cried when they heard of the break-in at the three prefabs attached to Scoil Mhuire in Wexford town where eight of the town’s most vulnerable children are taught. The school is closed for a fortnight but parents fear for the future of the centre they’ve worked so hard to finance.

They packed groceries in local supermarkets and others ran in the mini-marathon to pay for the various items their children needed to learn.

“The Department of Education has also been fabulous to the school,” said Mrs Murphy.

“To attack a vulnerable, minority group like this is beyond words. We put so much effort into that school. These thugs broke in on Tuesday night. They stole what they could and vandalised the rest. They took all eight computers and special CD walkmans which are only of use to those with sensory difficulties. They’d blast the ears off anyone else if they put a normal CD in. Everything is gone. The teachers had downloaded programme plans and all the progress reports were also on the computers. These thugs wrote slogans on the walls, ripped up the children’s art and wrecked all three prefabs. They slashed the children’s therapy balls because they were too heavy to lift.

Parents have appealed to whoever stole the equipment to bring it back. Principal Pat Goff is on holiday and parents won’t know if the equipment was insured until he returns.