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.