A campaign is underway to build the first special needs school in west Cork.
Parents Emma Howlin, Laura O'Mahony and Emily O'Driscoll are behind the groundbreaking initiative.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Emma O'Driscoll said that it's "difficult for children to travel for two to four hours every day to Cork city for their education.
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"We are campaigning for a special school to be built down here. So currently, in the massive area of West Cork, we have no special schools.
"For example, if a child needs a special school, they have to travel to Cork City. And currently, my daughter is, is doing that."
The campaigners are hoping to build a school for children aged from five to 18.
Laura O'Mahony is a mother of a child with autism and speaking to the Mirror, she said that her five-year-old son is entirely nonverbal.
After diagnosing him, she and her husband were advised to send their son to an attached unit in a primary school.
"It's brand new facilities. It's our first experience with autism, so we didn't know what to expect."
She added that the unit worked well for a small while, but her son Max was only three when he attended.
"Eventually, then he went he progressed into junior. After that, poor things got really bad, and Max's aggressive behaviour was unbelievably challenging.
"He was banging his head off the concrete floor, biting, scratching; he's so angry. It was just a horrendous period, absolutely horrendous tempered the school could not cope with it at all."
She said that the school has no experience with children like hers, especially since the unit is new: "The teacher had been a mainstream teacher and had been pushed into the special needs section. And that's happening all over the controller for the county as well."
Her son was attending for a maximum of one hour a day with no development.
She added: "He was doing nothing. Not progressing whatsoever.
"It just got to the point where I told my husband that we can't do this anymore. And we have to pull him up. And it was a tough decision because we know how hard it is to fight to get to those places. And every single year, you have to reapply.
"So we pulled him out, even though we had nowhere to take him at."
Later on, the parents found a private place in Cork city that deals with behaviour issues.
She said that her son had been attending since December last year. He's doing well despite the distance between their house in Clonakilty and Cork city.
"In the space of a month, maybe two months, he started communicating using The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)."
She said this is normal since they know how to handle children like her son.
"They make plans, constantly give us feedback, and coach the parents. And they're fantastic."
Ms O'Mahony said that the problem is that her son is turning six in September, and they have to find a special needs school for him where there's no one in West Cork.
She added that this pushed her and other mothers to campaign to build a school.
In a couple of weeks, parents from around West Cork will meet together, and the campaigners are calling everyone to get in touch with them.
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