The mother of a 22-year-old man who has autism has taken an unprecedented High Court Action in the Irish Courts claiming that the State has breached its constitutional obligation to provide free primary education for her son. She claims that for the first 18 years of his life Jamie Sinnott got no more than two years of what could be described as an education and as a result suffered and regressed. Catherine Sinnott, of Ballinhassig, Co Cork, was struck by the inequality of her son’s education compared with that of her other non-handicapped children, according to her counsel, Mr Paul Sreenan SC.
The Irish Times, Dublin, November 3, 1999.

Andrew Griffin has a CV that any student would be proud of. He has O levels in English language, English literature and sociology, NVQs in business studies and information technology and City and Guilds qualifications in maths, communication, and computing. He has worked for disabled charities, been an office clerk, gained public speaking certificates, mastered spreadsheets, studied drama, completed a film-making course and a preliminary certificate in sports teaching. His latest success after two years studying at the Willesden Centre of the College of North West London is to gain maximum marks in his exams in English, Politics of Race and Gender, sociology and study skills. A learning support assistant said: ‘Andrew fitted in brilliantly and the students were wonderfully supportive. They were much more understanding of people with disabilities afterwards.’
Brent and London Recorder, November 3, 1999.

Education for disabled children in Scotland’s schools was branded a ‘form of apartheid’ by campaigners yesterday. They told MSPs that the Scottish Executive’s proposed Improvement of Education Bill ignored what they called segregation in school – the current practice of sending disabled and special needs children to specialist establishments. The Equal Opportunities Committee which has been hearing evidence related to the Bill was told that 15 per cent of Scotland’s children were educated outside mainstream schools. Campaigners from the Edinburgh-based group Equity said the system perpetuated discrimination because able-bodied and disabled children did not grow up together.
Aberdeen Press and Journal, November 3, 1999.

Councillors are expected to sound the death knell for a special school. The controversial closure of Thornhill Special School is expected to be confirmed by Hartlepool Council as part of Government plans to integrate special needs children into mainstream education. The majority of younger pupils are expected to transfer to the town’s Grange Primary School, while older pupils will attend a special resource centre at High Tunstall School.
Hartlepool Mail, November 4, 1999.

A disabled boy who won his fight to be allowed to go to school with his friends has celebrated his first year at Whitehaven School in Cumbria. Ryan Redmond, 12, of Hensingham, had been told that because of scoliosis and dietary problems he would be unable to attend Whitehaven and should go to a specially equipped school in Workington. But Ryan and his parents were determined that his disabilities should not be a stumbling block so they took their case to a Special Educational Needs Tribunal. Head teacher, Stan Aspinall, said: ‘Ryan has settled in well at the school and managed to achieve a 75 per cent attendance rate. The education authority wanted him him to go to a specially adapted facility but he was against that and has shown that in come cases schools can meet the demands of pupils with physical problems.’
News and Star (West Cumbrian), November 8, 1999.

The mother of twins, Brad and Brent Gammon, 5, has kept them off school after learning that education chiefs plan to split up the boys with one attending a special language unit in Dartford and the other going to Higham County Primary School. A statutory assessment by Kent County Council found that Brad had special educational needs but that Brent could cope with mainstream education. Gravesham MP, Chris Pond, said he had written to the county council to find out why the boys’ problems had not been dealt with more sensitively.
Kent Today, November 11, 1999

Gloucestershire County Council’s plan for integrating special educational needs children into mainstream schools has been revised after an extensive consultation with parents, teachers, governors and support workers throughout the county over the last few months. Changes include more detail about how SEN children will be supported in mainstream schools and how that support will be funded. The plan is to close the county’s four special schools and shift funding to provide for SEN chldren in mainstream education, particularly at primary level, to address needs as early as possible. Dr Steve Huggett, head of SEN, said: ‘There has been a mistaken view that this review has been abut cutting costs but we are actually investing more in special education than ever before and as a council we are comitteed to continuing that level of funding. This review is about how we spend the money so that children with moderate learning difficulties get the best possible deal.’
Gloucester Citizen, November 13, 1999.

Parents of disabled or disruptive children will gain new rights to send their children to mainstream schools in one of two education bills announced yesterday. The Special Educational Needs Bill aims to speed up decisions about the education of children with physical, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Local authorities will be obliged to set up conciliation to spare parents lengthy legal proceedings to win their choice of schooling. Disputes over the education of children with special educational needs are the largest source of complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman.
The Times, November 18, 1999.

People with disabilities in Ireland could organise themselves into a lobby of one million advocates for change, a conference in Waterford was told yesterday. Mr Brian Crowley, the Fianna Fail MEP, called on the various groups representing disabled people to put aside sectional interests to pursue priority aims. He was speaking at the European conference, ‘New Perspectives, Disability and Employment’, at which the keynote address was delivered by the US civil rights lawyer, Mr Edward Kennedy Junior, who said disabled people were our ‘greatest untapped resource’. Mr Kennedy said society’s attitude to people with disabilities was the biggest barrier they faced. Medical models of disadvantage needed to be replaced by social models.
The Irish Times, Dublin, November 19, 1999.