An application for special electric-powered chairs to meet the “postural and toileting needs” of a teenage boy with ADHD in his classroom has been refused on the grounds that he attends a fee-paying rather than a free school, it has been claimed in High Court proceedings.
The boy, who also has autism, developmental coordination disorder and hypermobility, has sued the Minister for Education and Youth over the refusal to fund the chairs, reports Breaking News.
Suing through his mother, it is argued that the chairs were recommended by a HSE occupational therapist who stated that the child “presents with postural challenges, specifically posterior pelvic tilt and forward head posture.”
The therapist said this “significantly impacts his ability to engage in academic tasks and participate in classroom routines,” reports Breaking News.
A specific chair with wheels and electric height adjustment that can also be electrically moved was recommended and should be “accessible in every teaching environment.”
The court heard this would require a total of eight chairs, reports Breaking News.
The clinical assessment indicated that the current school-provided chair and desk setup “do not offer adequate adjustability or support to meet his physical or sensory needs.”
The boy’s school applied to the Department of Education for funding under a special furniture scheme it operates for students with special educational needs, reports Breaking News.
The application was refused on the basis that the boy was not attending a school participating in the free education scheme.
The decision stated that only primary special schools and recognised post-primary schools participating in the free education scheme are eligible to apply for funding under the furniture scheme, reports Breaking News.
It also noted that fee-charging schools “have an additional source of income that is not available to schools in the free education scheme,” and that “it is of course open to the school itself to provide the equipment being requested from its own resources.”
The department declined to overturn the decision, prompting the boy’s mother to bring High Court judicial review proceedings against the minister and the State, reports Breaking News.
His solicitors, KOD Lyons, claim that funding “is regularly provided by the Department of Education and Youth to fee-paying schools,” and that the decision is irrational, unreasonable, without legal basis and in breach of the boy’s constitutional rights.
It is also argued that nothing in the published furniture scheme limits its application to schools in the free education system, and that the exclusion breaches the Education Act 1998 and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, reports Breaking News.
When the case was mentioned before Ms Justice Rose Gearty this week, she adjourned it to 14 July, with the statement of opposition to be lodged before that date.
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