May 24, 2024, The Sun: Left in Limbo; We can’t find school for our son & are at our wits’ end after 15 rejections – we could be forced to take drastic action
Sam’s case was brought up during a Dail debate on special educational needs two weeks ago
THE desperate parents of a non-verbal autistic child turned down by 15 schools are begging Education Minister Norma Foley: “Please help us.”
Greg and Celine Lewis have been searching in vain for two years for a secondary school spot for Sam, 13.
But they have been left reeling by a series of rejections from both inside and outside their catchment area in Finglas, Dublin.
Determined dad Greg yesterday took the fight for a school place for Sam to Minister Foley’s Department of Education offices.
In an interview with the Irish Sun last night, exasperated Greg declared the family were at their “wits end” with the lad left in limbo as he prepares to start secondary school in September.
Frustrated Greg told how despite Sam’s case being raised in the Dail, the teen still cannot get an autism class place in a mainstream secondary school or an enrolment into a special school for September.
And the frantic father warned it could lead to a situation where either he or his wife will be forced to give up work to remain at home full-time with their son. . . .
Proud parents Greg and Celine have been hunting for a secondary school place for their son since last September.
They submitted applications to 15 different secondary schools, both inside and outside the Dublin 11 catchment area of the Lewis family home.
But their boy remains without a spot for the upcoming academic year, with the “pressure and worry” pushing the family to “breaking point”. . . .
“We’ve got very little help from the Department of Education. We’ve been begging for help but we’ve got nothing back from them(the Department of Education). . . .
Sam’s case was brought up during a Dail debate on special educational needs two weeks ago - but Greg accused the Government of “a total lack of action”.
The fed-up dad staged a protest at the Department of Education yesterday and explained how he felt like he had “no choice” but to take the day off work as an SNA for the demo. . . .
“We feel abandoned by the State. There has been no help. We have been left in the lurch. It is all red tape and no solutions.”
In a direct message to Education Minister Foley, Greg pleaded for an emergency meeting with the Fianna Fail TD about his son’s case.
He said: “I would say to Norma Foley just help us, please help us.” . . .
And the worried dad warned the family face financial trouble if no secondary school spot is found for Sam.
Greg told us: “If Sam doesn’t have a school, one of us will have to give up our jobs. That will put us as parents in financial difficulty.
“I work as an SNA, my wife works in the Mater Private Hospital, we’re financially going to be up the creek without a paddle if one of us have to give up work. We won’t be able to pay our mortgage. . . .
Conor Reddy, People Before Profit candidate for Ballymun-Finglas in the upcoming local elections and who is campaigning with the family said: “Children, parents and our school communities are being failed by the Government.
"100,000 people are waiting for Assessment of Needs, almost 10,000 wait for access to therapies and hundreds find themselves in limbo without school places for their children in September.
"Some parents and schools have taken the state to court, others have been protesting. It shouldn’t be like this - all children should be guaranteed their right to education and this right should be vindicated within their own communities."
A spokesperson for the Department of Education last night told The Irish Sun: “The department and NCSE are very conscious of the challenges faced by parents like the Lewis family in looking to secure special education places for their children for September 2024.
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