Sarah’s debt to special people

THE role of the special needs assistant (SNA) in the education and integration of our citizens with special needs is immeasurable.

For those of us unable to partake in everyday education and activities without the assistance of others, the SNA is key. Our 15-year-old daughter, Sarah, whose challenge is to live with cerebral palsy, craved for the right of passage enjoyed by her peers all over the country — a trip to Irish college for the summer. To escape the constraints of family life for a whole three weeks and to be thrown together with a group of her own age struggling to grasp the mother tongue was all she wanted.

We, however, could not see how she could — or indeed how we could — make it happen for her. Our initial enquiries, thankfully, lead us to Coláiste na Rinne in Co Phort Láirge.