'Taking an SNA away from a child, they may as well not be in school'
Cllr Jim Griffin and Jenny Roche
In many ways, TJ is an extraordinarily lucky boy. He enjoys eating McDonalds, playing football and going to school.
He is also lucky because his mother Jenny Roche has fought tirelessly for his right to education.
School is not something most of us consider a privilege in this country. But for parents of children with additional needs, being able to find a place for their child is akin to winning the lotto. Talking with Jenny and Sinn Féin Cllr Jim Griffin, who has been helping parents of children with additional needs, they have identified three main issues within the education system for children with autism.
Many parents are anxious to get a diagnosis as soon as possible so they can begin the process of getting the proper support for their children but with long waiting lists through the public health service, this can be extremely stressful for parents.
“People are forced to go private for diagnosis,” Jenny said.
Jenny reckons that if she didn’t pay €1,800 for a private diagnosis, “TJ would be 10 before getting a diagnosis.”
Cllr Griffin said he knows of a woman afraid to leave her home because she went to a money-lender in order to afford a diagnosis for her son.
He said she missed just one payment and they doubled the amount she owed.
“She has one kid upstairs who just rocks back and forth all day – she can do nothing for him.
“She hasn’t got the strength like Jennifer does to fight for him. There are loads of mothers and fathers who don’t have the strength. These kids are suffering, but they’re not out there as a statistic simply because their parents don’t have the strength.”
Cllr Griffin raised the point that in 2024, Jenny and other parents raised the issue when they campaigned, protested and contacted the media, “out of the woodwork, places were found”.
“Fast forward to two weeks ago, suddenly there’s another raft of parents again looking for places for this September again, tearing their hair out, taking anti-depressants. It’s a plaster that the government are sticking on to it every year."
Jenny added: “It has destroyed marriages. The amount of unnecessary stress it brings.”
TJ was offered a place in an early intervention classroom in Passage East. This class consisted of six children, two SNA’s and a special education teacher.
When TJ first attended the school in Passage, “he had very few words at that time.”
“I can’t express how much he thrived in those two years because of his SNA (Special Needs Assistant). The importance of an SNA to a child is massive.
“Children on the spectrum, children with learning difficulties, with speech and language difficulties, an SNA is needed.
“Taking an SNA away from a child, they may as well not be in school.”
Jenny is sure that if TJ loses his SNA “he will regress.”
Even before these cuts are made, SNAs are a precious commodity.
Cllr Griffin said: “If an SNA is not allocated from day one, they’re more or less put into a mainstream classroom. If they experience difficulties – which they will – they lose confidence in themselves.”
“If they don’t have an appropriate ASD space for the child, they’re putting them into mainstream. Then they’re assessed, then they might get an SNA. In the meantime, the child is overwhelmed, they’re lashing out and the parents are getting calls to collect the child.”
Even if a child already has a diagnosis when they start school, they are not immediately given an SNA. First, they must be assessed by the Special Education Needs Officer (SENO), which could take months. Each assessment takes two weeks.
As well as this, Jenny said the SENO’s are “run off their feet trying to find ASD places for children for the upcoming year”, giving them little time to carry out assessments for new children.
“It’s not acceptable,” she said.
