Autistic twins have still not started school despite state apology 

Gillian and Darren Milne with their sons George, twins Kyle, left, and Ryan, 12. Picture: Moya Nolan

Autistic twin boys who received a state apology over failures to secure a place in a classroom to cater for their profound needs have still not started school.

Ryan and Kyle Milne will mark their 12th birthday today at home with their parents despite promises from the government last year that the children would start school in September.

The boys from Glasnevin in Dublin made national headlines when their parents Gillian and Darren highlighted their seven-year battle to have them educated.

Last May, former Taoiseach Micheál Martin publicly apologised to the family saying it was “not good enough” that they had not been to school.

Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Josepha Madigan confirmed places would be found in a suitable special school from September.

Apart from a brief spell at a school in 2017, which had no specialist care for the children, the twins have not seen the inside of a classroom since.

Gillian said: “I am done with education for the boys. I just cannot take anymore. There are too many broken promises and too many meetings, emails, and paperwork and all the stuff I am supposed to deal with as well as trying to look after my boys at home. It is impossible”.

Tuition

The children have been receiving a grant for intermittent home tuition which involves a tutor whom they have formed a trusting relationship with over the past nine years.

However, Gillian said the new school, St. Michaels, has refused to allow the tutor to be involved in the boys' transition from homeschooling into the classroom.

She said detailed discussions over several months last year with Ms Madigan and her advisor made provisions that included the tutor’s help in settling the children into a new environment.

Gillian said: “The boys were at home for 12 years; they are obviously very reliant on myself and Darren and their tutor. They have massive separation anxiety. Aside from our parents, the boys only know their home tutor, so in their best interests and to help with the transition it was vital that she be involved in the classroom with them for a short while.

“This meant the tutor had to go into the classroom to help them settle and to do a proper handover to their new teachers. These are exceptional but vital circumstances.

"How can we just walk into a new classroom after 12 years and leave them with strangers when they have such profound needs? This plan was agreed with Minister Madigan, but this has not happened. The school has told us they won’t cater for our boys' tutor in the classroom with other children, teachers and peers there."

Gillian said the trust they placed in government is now “broken beyond repair”.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the school said: “St Michael’s House cannot comment on individual cases”.

The Department of Education said it does not comment on individual cases but said when new students are moving to a special education setting, there are transition plans to "accommodate the inclusion of existing supports so that a child can continue to access familiar supports and move on from these in a phased manner, to fully participate in the new school environment".

“The school at St Michael’s House in Drinan is engaging with the Middleton Centre for Autism, to provide advice and support to staff and families," it added.