Autistic exile Great 'a sinner' in new home

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http://www.independent.ie/national-news/autistic-exile-great-a-sinner-in-new-home-1258274.html

Autistic exile Great 'a sinner' in new home

By McDonagh Saturday January 05 2008

IT was exactly what Great Agbonlahor's mother had feared when they were deported from Ireland.

She had always claimed her autistic son's condition would deteriorate unless he was given proper treatment.

Now her six-year-old son's bruised face bears the marks of a fall on Christmas Eve, when he dived headlong into a concrete gutter.

Olivia Agbonlahor described how the boy began hollering for the help of "Mandy" and "Kavanagh", his former special needs teachers in Ireland.

She claims the tantrum erupted due to the lack of medical assistance for her son's autistic condition since he left Killarney in August.

Challenge

However, an application to challenge a deportation order signed by former Justice Minister McDowell has been scheduled for a hearing at the High Court on January 21, according to the family's solicitor, Brophy.

Great, who is living in Accra, Ghana, has been unable to access specialist care or assistance since he was sent home.

According to his mother, he has been "the target of scorn" from people in the town. In one instance people at a local church laughed at his autism, while the pastor urged him to "go home and sin no more".

As a result of the hostile environment and the lack of medical care, the boy has now reached breaking point, said his mother.

"I was walking him along the streets of Nungua, here in Accra, on the eve of Christmas when he suddenly wrenched his wrist from mine and dived headlong into a debris filled gutter," Mrs Agbonlahor told the Irish Independent.

"It was obvious that autism had gotten hold and even as he twisted in pain, he was still flicking his fingers hollering 'Bus Eireann', 'Mandy' and 'Kavanagh' as if nothing happened."

"I had to rush him to a clinic for an injection," she said.

His mother, who is often confined to the room she has rented for fear of reaction to her son, said that their first Christmas in exile was a depressing one.

As well as the distress caused to Great, his twin sister has also been affected by the move and the deterioration in her brother's condition.

"She keeps asking ad nauseum why we came to this part of the world where she is always bullied at school and also why Great remains at home all day," she said.

"I bemoan my fate every minute and keep querying why all of these things are happening to me in a single swoop.

"I am not trying to impose my vulnerable autistic child on Ireland, but this is the only country he has known. Furthermore, he needs help and cannot get it here," she added.

- McDonagh