The mother of a 13-year-old boy with Down Syndrome and autism has accused 'the powers that be' of failing children and parents.

Marita Coyne has been trying to find a secondary school place for her son Robbie for the last two years after being rejected 17 times.

Robbie was due to start a new special education secondary school last week, and does have the offer of a place, but the school itself won't be ready for several months.

Ms Coyne told The Pat Kenny Show there is 'no proactive planning' for children with such needs and her son cannot stay in mainstream school.

"It was good for him at the time for socialisation, but he needs to move on to a different pathway now," she said.

"He needs life skills; he needs support in that capacity so he can live an independent life.

"It's probably not a suitable environment for him because [with] loud noises, a lot of people, he gets frustrated, he gets disorientated, and it's not a good environment for him."

Marita Coyne speaking on The Pat Kenny Show. Picture by: Newstalk

Ms Coyne said she was 'cautiously optimistic' when she was offered a school place after "a year of banging on doors".

"I wasn't jumping up and down, but essentially, I was happy," she said.

"I found out on the 17th of August; we received an email from the school to say that the building wasn't ready - that it wouldn't be open for a minimum of eight weeks.

"Essentially it'll most likely be November, mid-November, that it opens."

Split of Marita Coyne and her son Robbie with a school classroom

Ms Coyne said the people 'on the ground', such as the Special Educational Needs Officers, are helping her.

"These are people on the ground that are thinking outside the box and trying to find a solution for Robbie," she said.

"My whole issue is that the decision and the practices of the powers that be - the Ministers and the people in the Department of Education that can make these decisions - are failing parents.

"They're failing our kids who need this support most and they're the most vulnerable in society.

"Our kids are falling through the cracks".

'Last week cracked me'

Ms Coyne said she began to look at homeschooling, but didn't realise an important detail.

"I wasn't aware that home tuition has to be organised by the parents," she said.

"What I mean by that is, the parents have to apply for the funding to the Department of Education and they have to recruit the teacher.

"This has been a long journey for us; I've been professional, I've tried to keep my calm and keep my emotions out of it... but last week just cracked me.

"I just felt that it was another thing up against us that I had to fight for."

Ms Coyne said she is now trying to find a tutor for Robbie, but believes by the time she finds one, "the permanent school most likely will be open for him."

'These children need the next step'

Ms Coyne said her son always needed a school place.

"There's no pathway, there's no proactive planning for our kids," she said.

"Robbie was born with Down Syndrome, that diagnosis is not going to change.

"It's no surprise he has to move from junior to senior to secondary and there on after to the next stage of his life: so why isn't there proper planning put in place for our children?

"The department knows that these children need the next step and they need life skills.

"They need help through the education system into adulthood and beyond, and they're not getting it," she added.

Main image: Marita Coyne and her son Robbie