'Jay doesn’t need a babysitter, he needs an education. It’s his right'

A lack of school placement is leaving Rebecca’s son Jay stuck in limbo, writes Education Correspondent Jess Casey

Four-year-old Jay with his canine companion service dog Sophie. Jay is one of 20 children who are currently on the waiting list for a place at St John’s Special School in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. File picture

Rebecca Meehan hopes that she can set her four-year-old son Jay up to be as independent as possible. Jay, who is autistic and pre-verbal, has a sensory room in their home.

He has Sophie, his canine companion service dog, and when Rebecca spoke to the Irish Examiner, she was preparing to take Jay to a sensory barbershop for a haircut in the next county over.

Wanting to understand her son, Rebecca completed a Masters in Autism Studies, graduating last November. She is also trained as a special needs assistant (SNA).

“I’ve literally given up my whole life for my son," she said. "I had a really successful career, and I’ve sacrificed everything to give him what he needs.” 

Jay is one of 20 children who are currently on the waiting list for a place at St John’s Special School in Dungarvan, County Waterford.

Left without a school place for her son come September, Rebecca has been told to apply “everywhere” including to special schools in Waterford and Cork, over an hour's drive away.

"Even if I was willing to bus him off to Waterford or Cork, there are no places," she said.

“I feel like I have done everything in the background possible to help and to try and highlight this issue in a really respectful and quiet manner and I’ve just had enough.

I’m trying to set him up to be as independent as possible. The thing that breaks my heart, and I’m not very soft in the way I approach this, I can’t live without him but one day he is going to have to live without me.

“I’m not wasting a second of his education putting him into a setting that’s unsuitable or risking a regression. Even though people look at him, and he can’t speak, he’s an incredibly well behaved little boy. Its due to the efforts I have gone to, to be the world around him. I’m genuinely not stopping until he gets through the gates in September.” 

Principal of St John’s Special School, Aoife O’Neill, said there is high demand for places each year due to the school’s open designation. She contacted the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) earlier in the year after she noticed applications for September tripled.

Of the 20 children on the waiting list currently, five are waiting for places in the school's severe to profound class. The 20 students are between the ages of four to 16, and each of their needs differ. Some are ready to start their primary education, some are starting their secondary education, and "many" are looking to move from their current school to St John's.

Rebecca Meehan with her son Jay. File picture

Some are without any school placement due a breakdown in their previous setting. If a child enters the school at the age of four or five, they attend St John's until they are 18-years-old, which means it is 13 years before that space frees up again.

Rebecca is hopeful that modular classrooms may be an option for the school as a way to increase capacity for the coming year, but understands that space is limited. 

"The school is almost physically at full capacity, you could only fit those two prefabs and that’s it then. There is no other physical space or square footage to put a child if you wanted to. Jay would be fine for a year or two somewhere he could just manage, but I need him to thrive. My child needs a special school.”

In a lot of cases, parents are just giving in and applying everywhere. I don’t need a babysitter, I need an education for him. I feel really strongly about that because its his right to have that. 

However, St John’s principal Ms O’Neill cautioned that modular classrooms would only be a “band-aid” solution. The school has been fundraising for a hydro-pool, a long-term and costly project but an important one, especially for pupils with severe to profound disabilities. 

"The site where our hydro-pool will go has been mentioned by some locally as a potential site for temporary modular classrooms. We had modulars there before and did not have the best experience with them. We have outgrown our site despite our wonderful extension. Our wonderful pupils can present with complex needs and require adequate teaching spaces, therapy spaces and sensory spaces as well as appropriate outside space.

Due to the complexity of need in our school and the lack of space and resources, we have to carefully schedule activities such as the dining hall, the school bus for trips, and therapy rooms for use. 

Most rooms are already in use at all times of the day. If St John's is to expand in a manner that is best suited to the needs of the pupils then in reality we need to get a green field site.” 

Next Wednesday, parents are to hold a peaceful protest in Dungarvan to call for increased capacity at St John's and a new green field site to support children with additional needs. 

A spokesman for the Department of Education said the NCSE is now sanctioning new classes for the 2025/26 school year. It is anticipated that new special classes in the Dungarvan area will be sanctioned in the coming weeks, he added.