Melody* reached out to the Helpline as her son had recently been excluded from his new crèche, after having a bit of difficulty settling in. Melody’s son has an additional learning need and had been in another crèche for two years without any difficulty. Without any discussion, a month after he started at the crèche, Melody was informed that her son was not to return. The crèche had not put any plans in place to support Melody’s child to settle in or communicated the difficulty the child was having with his parents. Melody felt her son was being discriminated against by the early years provider due to his additional learning need. Melody also thought that the exclusion process went against the policies and procedures of the crèche, as contained in the contract between Melody and the provider. Melody was provided with a legal clinic appointment to discuss the matter further and to receive legal advice on her situation, as it could amount to discrimination on the grounds of disability under the Equal Status Acts 2000-2018.
*Names have been changed to protect identities