Family to leave country as school turns away son [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 15 June 2011
THE parents of a boy with Down Syndrome say they will have to leave the country after their daughter’s school refused to enrol their son, saying it can not cater for his needs.
Christian Medina Finsen will be six in July and loves playing with other children when his mother Monica collects his sister Emily, aged seven, from first class at Lucan Educate Together National School in Dublin.
But because the school does not believe his educational needs can be met, it has said it will not accept him into junior infants next September.
Monica and her husband Mikkel, an IT director who moved here from Denmark 14 years ago, sent a psychologist’s report to the school in April. It told them Christian would need a full-time special needs assistant (SNA), resource teaching hours and other therapies, which he already receives through the HSE.
But the school says an officer of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has said full-time SNA resources will not be available to any child in the next school year.
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