Special-needs cuts will affect us all

An important point is being missed about special-education cuts.

Tue, 25 Jun, 2013 - 01:00

Everyone will be affected by these cuts — not only special-needs assistants and the children.

For every class that loses an SNA, the burden of educating, and managing difficult behaviour, will be on the teacher. Every child in the class will have less attention and less quality teaching, and will be educated in a more stressful environment.

My child is 10 and has dyspraxia and high-functioning autism. These impact on his attention span and focus. He also has problems with core subjects, such as maths and English.

However, he is a valued part of his classroom — co-operative, happy, secure, and well-behaved. This great state of affairs is due to the invaluable support he has had from his full-time SNA, and his resource hours (cut in the last few years), since he started school five years ago. He is lucky to have had the same SNA, who knows him and his condition well. The SNA even went on a course for autism when my son was diagnosed.

With these supports, and all the therapies I have fought for over the years, my son has a chance of reaching his potential and of a happy, fulfilled life.

However, the teachers at his school have warned me to expect his SNA to be partially or fully cut, not because my son’s needs have changed, but because the goalposts have been changed.

If this happens, not only will his life and future change for the worse, but so will the lives of his SNA, his teacher and his family.

As usual, these are cuts to the most disadvantaged — the children cannot fight for their rights, and their parents are mostly too exhausted, just dealing with day-to-day life, to fight either.

I feel this will have a knock-on effect on all children in classrooms in which SNAs are needed, and will be felt even when this generation is grown and is, in one way or another, part of how this country is run — be they road-sweeper or TD.

The cuts affect everyone and everyone should be objecting to them.

Jemma Inglis

Dunmanway

Co Cork