TVScope:Sweet Child of Mine, BBC1, Wednesday, June 6th
Until the latter half of the 1950s children in Ireland with special needs had few choices when it came to education. While some enrolled in the mainstream educational system where scant allowance was made for their disability or needs, others were kept at home, isolated from the larger community.
Families faced with institutional care for their child often opted for emigration to countries where more progressive services existed for children with physical and intellectual disabilities.
But 50 years ago a pioneering service was set up at Mountcollyer House on the Upper Malone Road, in Belfast. Fleming Fulton was the first school to cater for the needs of children in Northern Ireland with cerebral palsy. This touching documentary charted the lives of some of its former students who thrived under its influence.
Drusilla Morrison, a student from the school's fledgling days, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two. At a time when attitudes to disability were less than positive, she recalled how she once overheard someone say that all children like her should be shot.
She struggled during her early education at a mainstream school where she was ridiculed by her teacher and told her hands would never be of use.
But Drusilla blossomed at Fleming Fulton. She went on to qualify as a nursery attendant and worked as a houseparent for many years until she married and had her own family. Defying the negative prediction of her early educators, she remarked: "My hands have comforted many children in the nursery; my hands have held my own children; my hands have held my grandchildren."
Others, such as Billy Campbell, an acclaimed artist, spoke eloquently of his struggle with life and his feelings of rage at his limitations before he attended the school. As a child who could barely walk, his teachers at Fleming Fulton brought him up ladders to see birds in their nests so that he could fully engage with life.
Mary McCabe, a young woman with cerebral palsy and Para-Olympic medal winner, credits Fleming Fulton with encouraging her to strive for success despite her disabilities.
With an ethos of challenging pupils both physically and intellectually to reach their highest potential, Fleming Fulton aims to treat each child as an individual with individual needs. Over its 50 years the school has catered for children with a wide range of conditions including those affected by the drug thalidomide in the 1960s and 1970s.
At its inception, Fleming Fulton had 23 pupils and two staff members; today it has 150 students and 100 staff comprising teachers, doctors, nurses and rehabilitation therapists. This integrated environment enables children with a wide range of disability to participate in life to the best of their abilities.
The pupils of this remarkable school, both past and present, are a lesson to us all.