Fianna Fáil Senator slams education system as she struggles to get autistic son a school place

Her son Darragh, 4, should have started junior infants this year.

A leading politician has told how her autistic son is without a school place due to the lack of proper education for kids with special needs.

Senator Catherine Ardagh said her son Darragh, 4, who she says has profound autism, should have started junior infants this year. Instead he is left to spend another year in the preschool class while his twin brother Sean goes off to school.

Catherine - and other parents - hoped the early intervention pre-school class at Stratford National School in Dublin’s Rathgar, would be turned into a junior infants class for children with extra needed autism class.

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But despite Board of Management agreement, a decision was taken to leave it as is. In the Seanad yesterday, she called on Minister for Special Education Hildegarde Naughton to take action.

She blasted: “I feel compelled to address an issue many families including my own is grappling with - access to appropriate education for children with special needs.

“The patron (of the school) has gone against a decision to convert his class into a schol aged class and this has left Darragh and other children without a place in Junior Infants this year.

“Darragh should have started Junior Infants along with his twin brother but instead h’s spending another year in early intervention.

“I urge the Minister for Special Education Hildegarde Naughton to address this as a matter of urgency.

“We need a more transparent, well-resourced system that works for all our children. Every year it feels like a mammoth task just to get the suppor our children need.

“I pride myself on being the person who speaks for those who cannot advocate for themselves. In this instance, it’s my own son, who also happens to be non-verbal.

Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Senator Ardagh said: “Darragh started in September 2023 in the early intervention class and we maybe naively were of the view that this would turn into a school-age autism class.

“It has come to a head again because we are applying for schools now. We thought the patron would change their mind but we haven’t heard anything."

Ms Ardagh continued: “Parents are really on their own when they are applying for schools.

“You really have to turn into a momma bear to fight for the basic right to a primary education.

“I did a week of applying for schools and then I’m burnt out, you have to approach it and have all the scans of reports, you have to be in the mind frame for filling out forms and applying.”

Senator Ardagh is calling for a streamlined approach to applications for special schools and autism units within the mainstream system.

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