Comment: ‘Our autistic children deserve a choice of school, too’

Over the past few weeks, we have started looking at post-primary schools for our autistic daughter.

I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew autism class places were limited. I thought I was prepared for that reality.

I wasn’t.

One piece of advice has been repeated to us again and again: apply everywhere, and if you get a place, take it.

It sounds practical. When places are so scarce, perhaps it is practical.

But the more I hear it, the more uncomfortable I become with what we are actually saying to families of autistic children.

Because other families are visiting schools and asking themselves: Is this the right school for my child? Will they be happy here? Do I like the ethos? What subjects are available? What opportunities will they have? Can I picture my child belonging here?

We are asking a very different question.

Will anywhere take her?

My daughter is 13. She has her own personality, strengths, interests and needs. She deserves to be able to look at different schools and think about where she might be happiest. She deserves a school that understands her, where she feels safe and where she can learn.

She shouldn't simply have to be grateful for whichever place becomes available.

And yet, that is the reality facing our family and many others.

Here in Navan, a town with a population of almost 34,000, there are four post-primary schools available to girls. Between them, those schools have approximately 3,460 students.

Across those four schools, there are just 24 places in autism classes.

For the incoming year, there are approximately 570 mainstream places across those schools. At the moment, we know of just 2 confirmed available places in autism classes.

Two.

That's 1 in 285 available places.

When you see those numbers written down, the reality of "apply everywhere" becomes very clear. And the shortage of places is only part of what has been difficult.

We have also been visiting schools and attending open nights. These evenings are supposed to give children a chance to see their potential new school, walk the corridors, meet teachers and begin to imagine themselves there.

But an open night involving hundreds of people, crowded corridors, queues, noise and unpredictability can be completely inaccessible to many autistic children.

Before the open nights, I contacted the schools twice to ask whether any reasonable accommodations were available that might make it possible for my daughter to attend.

They weren't.

One school suggested I leave her at home.

There is something deeply uncomfortable about visiting a school to consider whether it might be suitable for your autistic child, while your autistic child cannot access the event designed to introduce children to that school.

At another point I found myself repeatedly asking where the autism class was and whether we could see it. One school did not even have their autism classes open for the autistic students to view.

I found that particularly difficult to understand. Families considering mainstream places could walk around the school, see the classrooms and get a feel for where their child might spend the next five or six years. But families looking at an autism class placement weren't afforded the same.

These experiences have left me wondering where autistic children fit into the transition process at all.

We talk so much about inclusion in education. But inclusion cannot begin after a child has secured a school place.

It has to be there when they visit the school. When information is provided. When open nights are planned. When transitions are organised. When families ask for accommodations.

We cannot call schools inclusive if autistic children are excluded before they even enrol.

What has probably affected me most throughout this process is the feeling that our expectations for autistic children have somehow become incredibly low.

There is such scarcity that families are expected to feel fortunate simply to secure a place.

Of course I will apply wherever I need to apply. I will do everything I can to make sure my daughter has a suitable post-primary placement.

But I don't want to simply "get her in somewhere".

I want to think about the right environment for her. I want to consider whether the school understands autistic students. Whether she will feel safe. Whether she will be supported to learn without being expected to hide who she is.

Those aren't unreasonable expectations.

They are the same kinds of things every parent thinks about when choosing a school for their child.

The difference is that most families are allowed to have standards.

When there are so few autism class places available, choice disappears. Families become afraid to question whether a school is right because the alternative may be no school place at all.

That isn't meaningful choice.

Our autistic children deserve more than whatever place they can get.

They deserve to walk into a school and ask, "Is this the right place for me?"

Not simply, "Is there a place for me?"

We would not accept that lack of choice for other children.

We shouldn't accept it for autistic children either.

Eva Burke

Neurodiversity Navan / NeuroFest Ireland