IPPN Questionnaire on
Autistic Provision Compiled by IPPN Special Needs Sub-Committee of: Ursula Cotter Dónal Ó’Múrchu Liam Twomey Pat Goff Peter Creedon
Background In the past eight years the educational provision for pupils with special needs has changed radically. Two of the main reasons for this were the judgements in the high profile O’Donoghue and Sinnott court cases and recent legislation. The Education Act 1998 is an Act which makes provision, in the interest of the common good, for the education of every person in the state, including any person with a disability or with other special educational needs. The Education Welfare Act 2000 further reinforced the entitlement of every child in the state to a certain minimum level of education. The Equal Status Acts 2000 & 2004, which promote equality of opportunity, require the reasonable accommodation of all people with disabilities. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 is an Act to make further provision for the education of people with Special Education Needs in an inclusive environment where possible. This Act also establishes the National Council for Special Education, confers certain functions on Health Boards with regard to the education of people with special needs and also allows for an appeal to be made when necessary. The Disability Act 2005 is an act to enable provision to be made for the assessment of health and education needs occasioned to persons with disabilities by their disabilities.
The Equal Status Acts 2000 & 2004, which promote equality of opportunity, require the reasonable accommodation of all people with disabilities. Regarding pecial Classes for Autistic children in mainstream schools, the Department of Education & Science originally had a policy of providing a teacher and two Special Needs Assistants for every six pupils. Many other court cases followed the O’Donoghue and Sinnott judgements and this resulted in the DES providing extra resources. At last years IPPN’s conference this differing provision was discussed. It was agreed to survey Principals to ascertain the current situation in schools, the levels of support and the areas of major concern.
This was an excellent return and gives a good overall view of the current level of provision. 80% were from co-educational schools and the divide between urban and rural was evenly split. Of the respondents, 16 were from special schools, 46 had between one and three special classes for Autistic children attached to mainstream schools, and the remainder were schools that had autistic pupils in mainstream classes. The special classes catered for pupils with Higher Functioning Autism, Aspergers Syndrome, Autism with Mild Learning Disability, Autism with Moderate General Learning Disability and Autism with Severe General Learning Disability. The size of schools varied from two- teacher schools right up to the very large schools. Six of the schools were ‘Primarily ABA’, 14 were ‘Primarily TEACCH’, while the majority had an ‘Eclectic Approach’.
Findings A digital copy of this report can be found on www.ippn.ie. Listed below are just some of the key findings Staffing The chart below refers to teaching staff in Special Classes. 53% of teachers are temporary, 46% qualified in the Irish system, 18% were Montessori trained.
The high level of temporary teachers has major implications for the continuity of education provision. The high level of temporary teachers has major implications for the continuity of education provision. If the school manages to access training for these teachers, there is real difficulty in retaining them if they are appointed to temporary positions.
Permanent (Irish Qualified) Permanent (Trained Abroad) Temporary (Irish Qualified) Temporary (Trained Abroad) Permanent (Montessori Trained)
Response
Temporary (Montessori Trained)
A Questionnaire was prepared by IPPN and circulated to the relevant school Principals. In total 210 principals responded to the questionnaire. PAPAGE 4
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10
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