ARCHBISHOP Dermot Clifford has written to the National Council for Special Education asking them to review a decision to drastically cut the hours of a special needs assistant (SNA) caring for a seven-year-old schoolgirl who has Down syndrome.More than 60 people protested yesterday in north Cork in support of Annabelle and Andrew Boyle as they arrived at Araglin National School with their daughter, Zoe. For the past two years an SNA has been looking after Zoe at school for five hours a day.
However, last summer it was decided to cut her role to just one hour a day.
Zoe’s parents say they would have agreed to a gradual reduction of SNA support, but fear this is too much and will damage any improvements she has made in recent years.
"Zoe needs adult supervision going to the toilet. She cannot blow her own nose. Her speech is extremely limited and her danger awareness is also very limited. Who will be with Zoe when they go swimming every Friday on the bus to and from and in the pool?" Ms Boyle said.
The decision to cut the SNA support was taken despite a letter to the authorities from a senior clinical psychologist who had assessed Zoe’s needs
Dr Charl Pretorious, who is a clinical psychologist at St Joseph’s Foundation in Charleville, said Zoe has been benefiting hugely from one-to-one support and to remove it would be very detrimental.
More than 60 people in the rural community yesterday showed their solidarity with the child and her parents.
The couple brandished correspondence from health experts showing the cut in support for their daughter would be very damaging.
Zoe had the full-time support of SNA Miriam O’Donoghue for the past two years at Araglin National School.
But it was decided by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to cut this support to just one hour a day from yesterday.
"We would have agreed to a gradual cut in support if it was only implemented when Zoe had settled into the new school term, bearing in mind that she would be entering a much larger classroom and a longer day," Ms Boyle said.
"This decision goes against all professional (medical) advice we have."
The couple quoted a letter from Dr Pretorius, who said such a cut would reverse the advances she had made in recent years.
"Zoe’s reliance on her SNA is not artificially created, but directly based on her actual needs. Greater independence can definitely be scaffolded over time, however, simply removing this support at a whim is setting her up to fail," the psychologist said.
SNA Miriam O’Donoghue said she was very concerned for Zoe’s future.
Anne Brady, who works as an SNA in another nearby school, described the move as "atrocious".
"Zoe needs somebody with her all the time in school. She’s entitled to be taught in mainstream school," Ms Brady said.
Araglin NS principal Phyllis Childs declined to make any comment on the issue.
After more than an hour outside the school, protesters moved onto the local Church of the Immaculate Conception where PP Fr Donal Leahy was saying Mass.
They continued their silent protest until Fr Leahy, who is chairman of the school’s board of management, came out.
He said teachers at the school claimed they would be able to cope, despite the SNA having her hours cut back.
"The situation will be reviewed and monitored up to September 27. If the teachers can’t cope then there will be a need to have the SNA’s hours increased," Fr Leahy said.
He said Archbishop Dermot Clifford had written to the National Council for Special Education seeking a sympathetic review "in the hope of increasing the SNA’s support".
A spokesman for the NCSE said it had determined the allocation of SNA resources to Araglin NS and had communicated it to the school and Zoe’s parents. "The NCSE does not comment on individual cases. The NCSE is in continuing contact with schools and will keep its resource allocations under review," the spokesman added.