By ALESHA CAPONE
A TAYLORS Lakes mother-of-four has been trying to get her autistic son placed on a school bus for the past 10 months.
Amanda Waite’s 10-year-old son Alick-Henry, who attends the Jackson School in St Albans, also has epilepsy.
A bus service, which used to collect him from a corner near home, has swapped pick-up locations and become too far away to walk to.
Ms Waite said Alick-Henry, who cannot wait to go to the toilet, also often used to wet his pants on the 70-minute bus trip home from school.
In addition, Ms Waite said the morning bus service was timed when Alick-Henry needed to take his medication, but she was told the on-board carer could not administer the dose.
Ms Waite said because of these reasons, the Jackson School vice-principal has advised her to place Alick-Henry on another bus service, with shorter travel times.
However, Ms Waite said the bus company has refused to collect Alick-Henry on the grounds she lives outside its official collection zone and a roundabout near her street is unsafe.
But Ms Waite said the bus already collects two children from outside its defined zone and taking a few minutes to go a different way would avoid the roundabout in question.
Ms Waite said since the start of the year, she has been in contact with both the bus company and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) trying to resolve the matter.
“It’s really upsetting, angry and frustrating,” Ms Waite said.
Staff from the office of Bernie Finn, a Western suburbs MP, have also been trying to help her with the situation for months.
“All she wants is for her son to be treated as an equal which in his case appears not to be happening.” Mr Finn’s spokesperson said.
But a DEECD spokesperson said the department worked with schools and parents to balance the transport needs of thousands of specialist school students.
“Due to the growth in enrolment numbers and other factors, bus services for students attending Jackson School are likely to change,” he said.
“Decisions on the majority of bus services for the following year are communicated to families in Term 4.
“Due to the impact on families’ life and work arrangements, it is difficult to amend services during the year.”
