A lack of job opportunities for people with special educational needs has sparked calls for a policy to be put in place to ensure they aren’t left behind.
It comes after a Co Armagh mum admitted to searching for three years to get her autistic son just one shift per week.
Annette Breen-Mallon (49) said 21-year-old Conor is in Clanrye Group four days a week. The community organisation helps individuals to find and maintain employment.
Annette told The Irish News the search for a job has been extensive and exhausting.
“I have been to here, there and everywhere. I don’t seem to be getting anywhere,” she said.
“He’s coming home in the evening, he’s cleaning. I don’t need him to clean for me. He’s vacuuming because he’s not being stimulated.
“It is breaking my heart. When you go to a hotel and there’s bedroom slippers and they’re done in plastic wallets; I would let him even do that. I wouldn’t be turning my nose up at anything.”
She added: “We only ended up getting a place in Armagh because the people that own it, they have two sons with autism.
“They took Conor with open arms as they know the situation with job recruitment for special educational needs. Even the staff in Clanrye couldn’t get a work placement for him. So, there’s absolutely nothing.”
Annette said some companies won’t employ due to what she’s been told is for ‘insurance reasons’.
She said: “Some say it’s something to do with insurance. These big companies recruit kids with Aspergers. But because Conor has autism, he is in a different category. Conor would be very vulnerable, but he’s not on the Aspergers spectrum.
“There needs to be incentive for employers to take children with special needs on. It just seems to be one closed door after another.
“Just someone to take him under the wing and to show him what to do. But the children aren’t given a chance. They are special children, and they have a huge amount to offer.”
SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh, Justin McNulty, has called on Communities Minister Gordon Lyons to ensure businesses are incentivised to hire people with SEN.
Mr McNulty managed to secure Conor a part-time job after Annette contacted him looking for answers.
He told The Irish News that some young people feel abandoned.
“Once young people turn 18, they are forgotten about and they’re on their own. They don’t feel they have the same provision as everybody else; they don’t see the opportunity for them to get onto the career ladder,” the SDLP representative said.
“It should be a central policy to really value these young people because they have so much to offer. It’s an issue right across the north. It’s not good for our society when people aren’t valued.”
The Department of Education says ensuring young people with special educational needs are supported as they leave education is a key priority, and it “will continue to work with the relevant Departments”.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department for the Economy added: “From a DfE perspective, work has been progressed to development a Transformation Fund bid focused on improving pathways and transitions for SEN school leavers.
“We are also working with the Education and Training Inspectorate to review SEN‑related provision across all six FE colleges, and we are expanding inclusive pathways through disability‑focused Challenge Fund projects.
“The Department has also worked closely with DfC on their draft Disability and Work Strategy.”
