Mum of child with autism had to travel 12 miles to Derry for summer scheme
The mother of a child with autism had to travel twelve miles to Derry because there were no summer schemes with suitable provision in her village.
That’s according to SDLP MLA Cara Hunter who was contacted by a constituent about the lack of autism-friendly schemes in rural County Derry.
"I have a rural constituency, and a mother of a child with autism said that there were no summer schemes for her son in her village. She had to travel 12 miles into Derry city, and she had no access to a car.
"That was the first time that that has really been flagged to me. Since then, I have had parent after parent saying that there is nothing for their child locally. Driving home that point about the lack of Special Education Needs (SEN) and autism-friendly summer schemes is so spot on, and it is definitely an issue right across the North,” she said.
Ms. Hunter raised the matter at a briefing of the Stormont Education Committee.
She made the comments during a briefing from members of the SHINE Autism Support Group, which provides autism-friendly summer schemes in the Belfast area.
SHINE chairperson Linda Harvey said: “SHINE runs summer schemes, because, as parents will tell you, the eight weeks of summer are like Groundhog Day for our children. When they go back to school after having had no routine for eight weeks, it is very difficult. Our summer scheme currently runs for two weeks for five- to 11-year-olds and two weeks for 11- to 18-year-olds.”