Drop Down Menu
  Search...
 

 

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 
Christine McGonigle
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.
Return to > News