WHEN I read your article (LET, November 27) I found it hard to believe that a little girl of five years should be ostracised like Naomi Tyrie has been, due to a medical condition over which she has no control and because staff at the school were following county council guidelines.

According to their spokesman, they are for the safety of the schoolchildren, but it would be interesting to know how long these guidelines have been in place and why they weren't acted upon before now.

In this day and age, for a little girl to be treated in this manner makes one wonder whether or not the same guidelines would have been applied if she had been suffering from one of the scourges of modern society.

That no-one sought to apply two of the three approaches you mention in your Opinion column, namely compassion and common sense, is a sad reflection on the people responsible for her education. It appears Naomi's future education is going to rely upon some of the school's staff volunteering to be fully trained to be able to administer the necessary medication. If it is going to be necessary to train three of the staff (assuming, of course, they volunteer) how long will the education authority continue to provide a home tutor?

Should sufficient staff volunteer, can anyone imagine what it will be like for that little girl when she is allowed to return to school.

She has now been singled out, as someone who requires special treatment because she needs to take medication on a daily basis. How often have you heard people say children can be very cruel when they want to be?

Finally, I would advise Mr and Mrs Tyrie not, under any circumstances, to let anyone browbeat them into placing Naomi into a special school for epileptics. They may be told it will be beneficial to her. Do not believe it - it will break her heart.

Name and address received.

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