The father of an autistic child spoke with emotion in the High Court yesterday about the progress his son had made since attending a school for autistic children in Galway city which was set up by parents.
Mr James McNabb said his son Colum (4), can now make eye contact, play on swings, initiate games, jump on a trampoline, sit in restaurants, go to supermarkets and is moving towards full independence in relation to toileting skills. While these things might seem small to others, they represented tremendous progress for a child who had been very isolated, he said.
In proceedings before Mr Justice Lavan, Colum, suing through his mother, Mrs Nichola McNabb, of Moycullen, Co Galway, is seeking a declaration that the Minister for Education and State have failed to provide appropriate education for the child to date and an order that such education be provided now.
Mr McNabb said he was very satisfied with the education being provided for Colum at the Abalta school, Knocknacarra, Galway, and would find it very difficult to take Colum out of the school now and move him to the Fairlands Child Development Centre in Galway.
He had seen the progress Colum had made and was concerned that when autistic children did not get the intervention appropriate for them, they didn't just stand still but regressed.
He had written to the Department of Education seeking funding for the school but, apart from acknowledgements, had received no formal written response. There had been meetings with Department officials on the matter.
The court has heard the Abalta school was established by parents of autistic children and has been operational since September 2001.
The core of the school's curriculum is the method of Applied Behaviour Analysis and it operates a one to one pupil-teacher ratio.
It has six pupils with an estimated cost per pupil per year of €45,000. The court has also heard schools in Dublin, Kildare and Cork, which operate the ABA system, are funded by the Department of Education but that, to date, the Department has not funded the Abalta school.
The lawyers for the State deny that Colum has not received appropriate education to date and plead that the Fairlands CDC offers education appropriate to the child's needs.
During yesterday's hearing, Mr Pat Walsh, the father of an autistic child and member of the Task Force on Autism established by the Department of Education, said the task force's report included several recommendations.
The task force report has been presented to the court and Mr Justice Lavan, while stressing he had not decided the case, has remarked there seemed "a certain illogicality" about a situation whereby a Minister for Education commissions a task force report which recommends what is to be done and then the High Court is required to spend from three to five weeks revisiting the subject.
The case continues today.
