Just One Child petition gets 10,000 signatures

AN online petition advocating for a distinct policy for special education has received more than 10,000 signatures.

The #JustOneChild petition on change.org was created by Autism Spirit co-founder Michelle Foreman and was launched on April 5.

She told Newsday, in a telephone interview, the aim was to get at least 7,500 signatures and with more than 10,000 signatures, a letter would be submitted to the Education Ministry by the end of the week requesting a meeting with representatives from the ministry to outline specifics in the petition.

"We feel it is a substantial enough number to really state something is wrong here and needs to be addressed. There is huge gap in terms of who in society is being failed and that there needs to be some sort of action to address it."

She added: "We do not feel our children are special or deserve special favour. But it is a human rights issue. The rights of a child for free education. We should not be having to go into debt to educate our children."

Foreman said people are either going into debt paying private school fees or home schooling like her.

She posted on the petition: "My son deserves better. He's brilliant, even testing at an adult level in some areas. But he also needs supports that are not available. The status quo has existed for too long and that needs to change."

Another poster wrote: "My eight year-old autistic son's right to an education is infringed. He is just as deserving as EVERY other child."