by claire corrigan
As Topic arrives at the home of Anne from Raharney, little 5-year-old Tyler rushes over immediately and throws his arms around our reporter, before asking who they are and if they have a car.
Anne Mulvaney said that when Tyler was diagnosed with autism on 28 February, 2016, she had to Google the condition she knew so little about it. “He had poor motor skills and understanding and I didn’t know what the future held,” she admitted.
She said that she noticed signs of a possible problem when Tyler was three years old and it when that the Health Nurse got involved. “When he was at home, he was doing things that seemed unusual. He would line up his toy cars in a certain way, like lining up forks and knives.”
It was recommended that he visit Professor Michael Fitzgerald, who is a Clinical and Research Consultant to the Irish Society for Autism, where Tyler was given his diagnosis.
“We were made very welcome in the school in February 2016, and they told me what I needed to have. We were told the school had experience with a child with autism before and would be able to manage him. I would never send my children to something that wouldn’t suit them.”
CONTACTED BY SCHOOL
Anne said that around September 2016, she was contacted by the school to ask if she would collect Tyler at the earlier time of 12pm, instead of 1.30pm, for a week on a trial basis. The Junior Infants were coming home at that time for the first few days anyway, so I didn’t mind but then it went on to the next week.
Anne said she was told that there was no SNA to supervise the child in the yard. “He was granted access to SNAs and I was upset because I had filled out so many forms so that he could have that.”
Anne contacted the Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO), who provide SNAs to schools, to find out what was going on. “I was told that he had access to an SNA and to contact the school.”
She said that she feels that it was at this point that relations between her and the school began to become tense. The situation further deteriorated after an incident at Coralstown Church, where the children go the first Friday of every month, as her Tyler struggles with any departure from his normal routine.
Anne told Topic that she contacted the school to set up a meeting with Tyler’s class teacher, but was unable to make an appointment. “I never got to talk the SNA or the class teacher at all.”
Anne said that the bad feeling between the two parties worsened the day before Grandparent’s Day on 1 February, when she received a phone call from the school, voicing concerns that Tyler might struggle throughout the day.
On 13 April, Anne received a call instructing her to come and collect Tyler as he had accidentally wet himself. She said she was met by an SNA, the School Principal and the resource teachers who informed her that Tyler was being suspended from 14 February.
“I had been in hospital and his routine had gone out the window, so he was very unsettled. I literally would have got down on my hands and knees and begged her to let him stay if I thought it would have helped.”
She arrived at the school on 14 February with Tyler, Anne said, leading to a tense stand-off between her and the staff. “I am like any other parent and I’d go to ends of the earth if I feel like someone has hurt my child. I turned to leave and Tyler said, ‘Mammy, why can’t I stay?’ He was extremely upset all that day and all the next day. He has a page from a newspaper with his friends on it that he actually carries around to this day.”
Anne, who also has a 13-year-old girl called Lauren and a 7-year-old boy called Aaron, said that it can be very tough dealing with a child who has disability. “You do have ‘meltdowns’ and you do have to control them. It’s hard to explain something to any 5-year-old, but especially when they have special needs.”
Anne stayed at home with Tyler for the next week and following a brief return to the school, was expelled on 15 March. “They said his behaviour posed health and safety risks. The school, the Education Welfare Officer, myself and staff from SENO had a meeting at the school on 15 March and we decided to shorten his days from 10am to 1pm for three weeks and see if that worked.”
That evening Anne received a message saying her son did not have a good day at school.
“I was informed the next day that Tyler had been suspended, waiting expulsion, and the Board of Management meeting would be held on 3 April and that the school had tried everything they possible could to allow him to remain there. On the report, the school said Tyler came in through an office door suddenly, which resulted in one of the staff members being hit by the door.” The report also state that Tyler had ‘headbutted and kicked his teacher and SNA’ on another occasion.
Anne contacted Autism Action Ireland to see if she could find alternative arrangements for her son, who also suffers from ADHD2 Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and epilepsy. “They were very good. Niall Murray really helped us and made sure we did everything the right way, and he attended the meeting with us and the school and the Board of Management on 3 April. He made an offer to bring a specialist in behaviour analysis into the school to work with the staff, but it was rejected.”
IF TOLD EARLIER
Anne said that if she had been told earlier that the school was unable to accommodate her son, the current situation could have been avoided.
Anne said that Tyler’s Occupational Therapy (OT) offered to work with the staff four days a week, but he was expelled before that happened. “She has never seen him being aggressive and he never lashed out at her. She earned his trust and now he loves her. He had a meltdown in the class once and she calmed him down instantly. There are other children that need SNAs at the school and they do a fantastic job with them, but I don’t believe they have facilities to have an ASD child there,” Anne commented.
Not Going Back
Anne said that she has no plans to return her son to Coralstown National School and that Tyler is now enrolled in St. Joseph’s National School in Rathwire for next September and he will begin home tutoring on 20 June. “They do have an autistic unit, but it is currently full.”
Anne said that when Tyler was first diagnosed by Professor Fitzgerald, she was advised that he would not need to attend a unit. “He said he was fine to go to a mainstream school with an SNA. I think it would be easier, nearly, if he was in a wheelchair and people would then understand he does have this disability.”
