A COUPLE travelled 150 miles to find the right school for their autistic son - and now it is earmarked for closure.
Tracey Craig and husband Mark gave up their jobs and home so son Robert could attend the specialist Ewing School in Didsbury.
Classes
Robert, 11, had been unable to speak, yet after just a few months of classes, he can now hold conversations.
But now education bosses want to close the Ewing, which teaches youngsters with communication problems, and send teachers and pupils to other schools throughout the city.
Newcastle
Tracey, 37, said the family, including younger son Daniel, nine, moved from Newcastle three years ago.
She said: "Robert had gone to a mainstream school, but they struggled to cope. He couldn't put sentences together and we were unable to talk with him.
"But within a few months of moving, we could have a full conversation. It was amazing."
Fighting
Ironically, a specialist school has now opened in Newcastle and Tracey and her family plan to return - but have vowed to keep fighting for the Ewing.
Manchester council wants to set up specialist classes in mainstream schools, with a report saying youngsters learn better in a mixed environment. But campaigning parents across the city have told how teachers at Ewing transformed the lives of their children. Ann-Marie O'Reilly, 39, from Burnage, said her son Connor, 12, did not know how to read or write until joining the school from a mainstream primary. She said: "The difference has been incredible.
"I don't blame his primary school, they did their best, but at the Ewing, they have decades of experience. To break it up now seems crazy."
A formal decision to close the school has yet to be made.
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Angie33 , Manchester (10/03/2009 at 10:07)
When you know children with say Aspergers syndrome or adhd trying their best to cope in mainstream schools its heartbreaking,but parents are constantly told its the best thing.There may be periods in the life of the child when its ok.But if they cant speak???I think there should be a choicerather than waiting until a child is distressed and demoralized.
Playtimes are difficult as how would teaching assistants or in most cases teachers understand what is bad behaviour and what is behaviour due to the disorder.It takes parents and grandparents years to work this out.
We need to hear more from parents like these and the difficulties they are facing.If this cant be sorted for the most vulnerable children then what sort of adults will they become.Possibly never able to live independantly,because the window where they would learn the basics has passed and they are made forever dependant costing more money in the long run.
dpa (07/04/2009 at 22:47)
ceder mount acording to the manchester city council web site help with autisum do a serch on google for autisum ceder mount or ewing
david abbot
david abbot
johndoe (02/11/2009 at 22:08)