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Clonmany child denied help
12.06.08
by Damian Dowds, Inishowen Independent
A CLONMANY mother of five has said she’s disgusted
with the Special Education Council after it decided
that her chronically ill daughter cannot have a
dedicated Special Needs Assistant (SNA) when she
starts Carndonagh Community School in September.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent this week
Christine McGonigle said there’s no equal
opportunity for her daughter and maintained there’s
nowhere she can appeal this decision to.
Mrs McGonigle has criticised the fact that the
Special Educational Needs organiser in Inishowen
dismissed the expert opinion of doctors that her
daughter should have a SNA because of her health
problems. |
And she added that the
decision means that her daughter – who has already
taken Carndonagh Community School’s entrance
examination – will not be able to attend secondary
school this autumn.
“The local special educational needs organiser met
with the family and promised that our daughter would
get the necessary assistance, but those hopes have
been dashed,” Mrs McGonigle said.
“My daughter is absolutely distraught about it. She
was deciding on what subjects she was going to study
and looking forward to going to school with her
friends, but that |
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has been cruelly taken
away from her.”
Explaining that her daughter suffered from epilepsy
and a severe form of asthma, Mrs McGonigle said that
she requires a lot of medical support and frequent
hospital treatment. She did not need a SNA at
Clonmany National School because her family live
next door and were available to come to her aid
should she suffer an asthma attack. However, that
will not be case when she attends Carn Community
School.
“Principal Paul Fiorentini and the staff at Carn
school have been brilliant and have tried everything
they can to ensure my daughter gets a SNA, including
providing a sickbay to house my daughter’s nebuliser
and other equipment,” Mrs McGonigle continued. “But
they’ve come up against a brick wall following the
Special Educational Needs organiser’s decision.”
“My daughter is very capable and despite missing
weeks on end from school due to hospitalisation, she
has always caught up. She doesn’t feel or act like
she’s ill. She’s tough and gets involved in
everything.”
“I’m not looking for sympathy, I just want our
daughter to have a proper education,” Mrs McGonigle
concluded.
Mrs McGonigle’s case is just one of several across
Inishowen where SNAs have been withdrawn and has led
parents to form a lobby group. The group met last
week in Bridgend and will hold another public
meeting on Monday, June 16 at 8pm in the Strand
Hotel in Ballyliffin. |
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