Education ruling - The hopes of many families are dashed

THE High Court ruling against a family seeking a better education for their autistic child represents a major blow for hundreds of other parents in a similar predicament.

But so determined are the beleaguered families of autistic children that within minutes of yesterday’s negative verdict they vowed to continue their long-running battle against the State.

This is a highly emotive issue as education is one of the major areas of difficulty for parents of a child with autism. Young children with autism usually have impaired language development and often have difficulty expressing their needs and may laugh, cry or show distress for unknown reasons.

Given the heart-rending nature of the condition, it was not surprising that more than 150 other families in a similar position were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the action taken against the State by the parents of five-year-old Seán Ó Cuanacháin.

Essentially, his family wanted the court to compel the State to provide him with 30 hours a week of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) a form of tuition which is effective for teaching children with autism.

Seán already has access to some State-funded ABA tuition at his school in Co Wicklow but the family claim this is inadequate for his needs. To their dismay, the judge found there was not sufficient evidence to determine that the model of education provided by the State was not appropriate.

Dashing their hopes, Mr Justice Michael Peart found the education provided by the State is appropriate. He ruled the State should not be ordered to provide the particular type of education sought by Sean’s parents.

Yet, the reality of life for Sean is that he sometimes became so frustrated that he ran against a concrete wall. Significantly, he has not done so since getting ABA tuition.

Parents campaigning for similar demands accuse the State of prolonging their ordeal by dragging them through the courts and by appealing against decisions when judges rule in their favour.

In the celebrated case of profoundly autistic Jamie Sinnott, his mother Kathy, now an MEP, had to fight a 22-year-long battle to gain recognition for autism. When she finally sued the Department of Education seven years ago, the High Court found the State had failed to provide Jamie with a primary education even though it had a constitutional obligation to do so.

The court ruled that the State should provide education to Jamie as long as he could benefit from it. However, the following year, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court ruling on appeal. But damages of €275,000 given to the Sinnott family were allowed to stand.

Whether the Ó Cuanacháin’s will be awarded damages for delays in providing Seán with education between 2002 and 2004 will be revealed next month by the judge. Costs in the 68-day case are estimated at more than €5 million.

The sheer difficulties confronting children with autism was seen last year when parents protested outside the Dáil to avert the possible closure of a Co Wicklow pre-school.

Against this bleak backdrop, the sadness of Sean’s plight was succinctly captured by his mother, Yvonne, who said the ‘light of learning’ has now been virtually extinguished for her beloved son.