School place wait goes on for parents of special needs children

Dorothy Murray, one of the co-founders of SEN Reform, told BBC News NI her four-year-old daughter did not get a specialised nursery place.

Sienna, who is non-verbal with autism, was placed in a mainstream school with a one-to-one teaching assistant.

This year she is still waiting on a specialised place for Primary One.

“I had to give up a 13-year career because of the situation. I had to change nappies and my work just couldn’t accommodate me for that.

“I am at breaking point, it’s not easy and nobody knows until you go through this process with your child.

“The stress, the anxiety – it affects my whole family.

“I have two other children with different needs – I have to be so much to my daughter, I have to be a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a mum.”

Ms Murray said children like Sienna are being denied a basic human right.