Call for Cork secondary school for neurodiverse students

A group to advocate for a secondary school for academically capable neurodiverse students has been set up by parents and educators in Cork.

The Cork Inclusive Education Network (CIEN), in collaboration with St Killian’s School, says there is a gap between the mainstream and the special model for a cohort of students who are capable of doing the Junior and Leaving Certificate if their complex needs are met. 

Their proposal, known as Project Right, calls for a pilot school for these young people, for whom the barrier is not academic ability, but the school environment, because of sensory issues, social pressures, communication, and the constant effort to regulate.

Órla and Gerard Walshe are among the parents leading the group. 

They said they have had meetings with Michael Moynihan, a Cork TD and state minister with responsibility for special education, who they said is “supportive”, and that they have been promised a response next month.

“We don’t think this has been done anywhere except for post-primary schools for the deaf. They teach the children the way we’re proposing: in small groups with lots of support.”

Ms Walshe said their model will be about meeting children where they’re at, seeing where their needs are, and then catering to them.

The idea was based on the model at St Killian’s where pupils access a Primary Multi-Stream Class, catering for pupils with severe dyslexia and autism and other complex needs, and autism classes for pupils with an intellectual disability. After children age out of the Multi-Stream Class they are "thrown back to the wolves", Ms Walshe said.

“These kids are falling out of education, or ending up being home-schooled, which means their mental health is suffering, and their parents’ mental health is suffering. We’re hoping to break that vicious cycle.”

Mr Walshe added: “This is not for every neurodiverse child. Most kids with ASD and ADHD are OK with mainstream or special classes, depending on the severity, but there’s a cohort for whom both cases have been proven to be unsuitable.”

Their proposal has the backing of the principal, board of management, and parents’ association of St Killian’s, the diocese of Cork and Ross, Shine Centre for Autism, and AsIAm.

“We have everything we need, except the green light from government, and the funding,” Ms Walshe said.

CIEN is encouraging people affected by this gap, or who would like to support the campaign, to get in touch by emailing infocien@yahoo.com.