Feb 20, 2025, Irish Mirror: Mother prepared for 'war' to get her autistic daughter a school place
A mother who has received nearly 25 school rejection letters for her autistic daughter has said she is no longer in a "fight" but a "war" to find five-year-old Cyra a place.
Charlotte Cahill, from Tallaght in south Dublin, has said she is "distraught with anxiety about what is going to happen come June if we don’t have a school place."
Last year, she applied to 35 different schools for a place for Cyra but could not secure one.
Following a battle, the family was told that she could remain in pre-school for a third and final year but that she would have to move on.
Ahead of the new academic year, Ms Cahill has already received 23 rejection letters. In schools where she was second or third on the waiting list last year, she is now 16th and 22nd. Ms Cahill has also been driving to schools around seeking a place.
Cyra is five years old and has been diagnosed with autism and epilepsy. She is also non-verbal.
She is currently in an autism preschool following a "hard fight" to secure a place following a stint in a mainstream school that was not suitable for her. . . .
She said: "When she is in preschool, she is thriving. She is doing amazing.
"She went from this child who struggled so, so much. There was no eye contact. The child would be in her own environment constantly. She didn’t want to interact with anybody else.
"She now runs up to the children, wanting to learn and engage.
"She is fully potty trained. A non-verbal child at five years old is impossible to find who is fully potty trained. She is thriving in every area of her life with preschool.
"I know, and I’ve seen first-hand, what it is like when she doesn’t have preschool.
"Cyra goes backwards. Not having her in school can cause detrimental effects on her. It can send her back to self-injuring, it can send her back into withdrawal from her family.
"The regression in her is insane when she is not in school, especially if it is more than a week.
"She starts to have accidents where she wets herself. She has been potty trained for the last six months.
"But as soon as she is out of routine, as soon as she is out of structure, things go back. She wees her pants, she hits herself, she withdraws from herself.
"You can see the devastation of not having a school place. Last year, I didn’t have the school place, but I had the comfort of knowing that there was a possibility of an extra year in pre-school. I know this year there isn’t.
"It is now a war. It is not a fight. It is war. I am not going to stop until I get my child what she needs and what she is constitutionally entitled to." . . .
"I’m at the stage where I am distraught with anxiety about what is going to happen come June if we don’t have a school place."
Ms Cahill surveyed Cyra’s pre-school and only one child out of 12 had a school place.
She then set up a WhatsApp group to support parents seeking a school place for their child. It currently has 49 members, but she believes there are "many, many more" people affected.
There are also issues where children have places up to second class, but then their schools do not cater for older primary school students.
Ms Cahill added: "It is diabolical. They don’t see our kids as equal. They don’t see them full stop.
"They think they are a burden on society. The money is there. We have plenty of money in the country.
"It is the want to actually do something."
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