Every day parents face the challenge of finding the help and support that their child needs for their speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), as well as the support that they as parents need when dealing with their child’s difficulties. Reama’s son Tait attended I CAN’s Meath School. As well as being a parent, Reama was also one of the school’s Governors. During her time here she gained a great deal of experience of the challenges parents face, as the journey to finding the right place for Tait to go to school was a long and difficult one.
Tait has Bilateral Perisylvain Polymicrogyria, a rare brain abnormality centred around the areas of the brain concerned with language and its production. Reama describes her son as lucky, because, unlike others with the condition, he can swallow and eat. When Tait started at Meath School he was unable to say more than a few words and these were only intelligible to those that knew him. He was a frustrated, lonely little boy whose confidence had been damaged by his previous experience at school, and at home life was difficult.