AS the “middle-class” parent of a daughter with special needs who is now in her 30s, I am a little disappointed at the tone of the article about our children being given more support (“Middle-class special needs children given more support” and Leader Comment, The Herald, March 29).
Throughout our daughter’s schooldays we did indeed have to fight for services and often wondered how people who were less articulate managed.
However we did not have any other ways of influencing people and the things we fought for were all things that either should have been provided or that had been withdrawn, usually without us having been informed.
Our daughter has not much speech and was transported to school by bus so no chatting at the school gate. Rather than imply that middle class parents are to blame for others missing out, surely schools should just provide the necessary support without people having to fight for it.
Parents of children with special needs whether rich or poor, have quite enough on their plates without the extra stress of the constant fighting which I can assure you is necessary throughout school days and beyond. It should not depend on how determined a parent is for a child to be provided with the required support.
People would be very surprised if I were to relate some of the challenges we have had to face and some of the attitudes we have come across over the years.
Eleanor Ferguson,
10 Craiglockhart Terrace,
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