Cork Parents and Educators Call for Specialist Post-Primary Pathway for Neurodiverse Teens:
PROJECT RIGHT highlights a gap in Cork’s post-primary provision for academically capable neurodiverse young people with complex needs
Cork Inclusive Education Network (CIEN), in collaboration with St Killian’s School, is calling for the development of an additional regional specialist post-primary pathway in Cork for a small cohort of academically capable neurodiverse students with complex needs whose needs are not currently being adequately met through existing educational pathways.
The proposal, known as PROJECT RIGHT, has grown from the experiences of families and the expertise of educators who have identified a gap in the current continuum of specialist post-primary provision in Cork.
While many neurodiverse students thrive in mainstream schools and special classes, PROJECT RIGHT focuses on a smaller cohort who are capable of learning and progressing academically but who may struggle to access education because the broader school environment does not adequately meet their complex needs. No equivalent specialist post-primary pathway currently exists in Cork for this cohort.
For some young people, the barrier is not academic ability. The combined demands of the school environment — including sensory demands, social pressures, transitions, pace, communication expectations and the constant effort required to regulate and cope — can make sustained participation in education extremely difficult.
Some students may already receive additional supports or attend a special class within a mainstream school, yet continue to experience significant overwhelm, exhaustion, anxiety, reduced attendance or difficulty fully accessing education.
PROJECT RIGHT proposes one additional specialist pathway to complete, rather than replace, the existing continuum of provision. The proposal is designed to strengthen educational choice while building on existing educational expertise, policy and provision.
CIEN is a parent-led advocacy network working collaboratively with families, schools, educational professionals and Government to improve educational opportunities for neurodiverse children and young people across Cork. Its focus is on practical, evidence-informed solutions that expand meaningful educational choice.
PROJECT RIGHT is being developed as a regional specialist post-primary pilot, intended to provide access based on educational need rather than geographical location and to make effective use of existing specialist expertise across Cork.
The proposal has already attracted support from a range of stakeholders, including the Board of Management and Parents’ Association of St Killian’s School, the Diocese of Cork & Ross, Shine Centre for Autism and AsIAm.
CIEN — Cork Inclusive Education Network
Email: infocien@yahoo.com
UPDATE: April 2026
Urgent and a very real need for new secondary school to meet the appropriate needs of ASD children as requested by Cork Inclusive Education Network.
There is an urgent and ongoing crisis affecting young people and families here in Cork. There are ASD children currently unable to access appropriate and adequate education. Many of these children are experiencing profound school- related burnout, reduced time tables, home tuition or complete disengagement from education. This is not a short term issue. It is a sustained failure of provision that is impacting their ability to participate in education, develop socially, and progress academically.
The right for all children to access an education has only been gained over the last thirty years. At present, for a significant number of children, that right is not being met in practice. Each day, for these children, is another day of lost education, and for many, a further step away from recovery. The longer this unmet needs remains, the greater the long term impact on the young person, their family and the wider system.
The failure of the education system to provide an appropriate education does not just impact on the education sector. There is also a significant costs to the State, including:
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An increased reliance on home tuition provision.
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Increased additional supports from Tusla, the Department of Health for the young children and their families.
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Wider economic impacts where parents are required to reduce or leave employment in order to support their child.
As families struggle to manage and support their children there is a growing need for, and reliance on HSE services, which are in themselves under huge pressure already. The reality is HSE cannot adequately offer appropriate supports. Families are having to deal, on a daily basis, with stress, anxiety, additional financial pressures, and ongoing pressure to deliver an education for their child. These issues are cumulative and ongoing, and they continue to rise, while the underlying issue remains unresolved.
The parents involved firmly believe in an inclusive model of education for their children. However, inclusive education must be meaningful in practice and not solely defined by placement. It should be noted that both Irish education policy and international guidance recognises that inclusion requires environments where students can participate, engage and learn effectively, supported by appropriate structures and expertise.
Established principles of inclusive education highlight that inclusion is achieved not through uniform placement, but rather through adapting provision to meet diverse needs and thus ensuring real participation rather than mere presence. The present options to parents regarding education are mainstream classes, special classes in mainstream schools or special schools. If a child’s needs are not appropriately met in these settings is this, in reality, providing an inclusive education?
The parents from Cork Inclusive Education Network have submitted a proposal to the Department of Education that offers a constructive and achievable way forward. Specifically. They have proposed that a secondary school be established as a time bound pilot, delivered within the Department’s existing inclusion model.
This approach does not set a new precedent. Specialist and alternative provision already exists within the system for different cohorts of students, including settings such as St. Kevin’s and the Life centre, each designed to meet the needs of a specific group. The proposal from Cork Inclusive Education Network (CIEN) follows the established approach, providing a targeted response for a clearly defined cohort whose needs are not currently met.
Importantly, this is not a request for national rollout, but for a pilot in Cork, to extend the successful specialist supports available at primary level into post primary education. The proposed secondary school would have specifically trained and dedicated staff to support this cohort of children and recognising that existing settings are not designed or resourced to meet their particular needs.
The present situation facing many children and by extension, their families is unsustainable. Parents need to see an approach from the Department of Education that solves a problem and does not follow the age old approach of finding an approach that only attempts to manage a problem.
The growing number of ASD children whose true educational needs are not being met is growing. As a charity set up to help parents, we strongly support all parents from CIEN and their request for this new school.
Kieran Kennedy
Head of Advocacy and Family Supports
Recently published Economic and Social Research Institute.
26/02/2026
The ERSI findings are very clear:
·Missing 20 days or more per year can result in a gap of over 80 leaving certificate points.
·Missing more than 10 days at age 13 reduces the likelihood of obtaining a degree by age 25 by 16%.
·Chronic absence is strongly linked to higher depressive symptoms, increased stress, poorer physical health, lower life satisfaction and weaker social belonging in early adulthood.
·Approximately one fifth of students now meet the definition of chronic absence.
·The relationship between absence and underperformance is linear and consistent across all social groups.
·Minister Naughton has also publicly acknowledged that even relatively short periods of absence can have lasting impacts on life chances.
Where the State is aware that systematic placement gaps are contributing to chronic absence, and where research (ERSI) now demonstrates the predictable long –term consequences of that absence, the issue becomes not only educational, but one of children’s rights, public health and long term social equality.
