Parents angered by special needs cuts

PARENTS of children with autism have criticised the Department of Education amid claims that home education grants and special needs assistants in schools have been cut.

Last week, the Irish Examiner reported that head teachers throughout the country were shocked by notices that children’s special needs assistant (SNA) hours were being axed by up to 50% in some schools.

The proposed move came despite a Government pledge to tackle special needs through the Disability Bill and the Education for Persons with Special Needs Bill.

There was also outrage among opposition politicians that the cutbacks were announced after the Dáil went into summer recess.

It has emerged that hundreds of parents have been waiting two to four months for grants to be paid for their children’s home tuition.

These children are incapable of attending schools and many parents have been forced to pay the home teachers from their own pockets.

Other teachers have gone without pay but are now threatening to stop working.

Child and adolescent psychiatrist Michael Fitzgerald, of Trinity College Dublin, yesterday warned that special needs assistance was critical for children with autism. Any weakening of support services, he said, posed a risk to children.

“SNAs are absolutely critical for children with autism and such cutbacks can lead to regression, behavioural problems and can also make children with autism more vulnerable to bullying in mainstream schools,” Professor Fitzgerald said.

He said he received a large volume of correspondence from parents who were aghast at their children’s SNA hours being cut.

“It’s very hard to document the cuts and the department will not admit that there is a policy change, but something seems to have changed.”

The Department of Education said each case was dealt with individually and there are no funding issues affecting the National Council for Special Education.

“There is no blanket cutting of hours as there is a huge budget in this area.”

Irish Progressive Autism Alliance chief executive Kieran Kennedy said the reallocation of hours “just allows the department to say that more children are getting SNA help when the quality of the service and of children’s and parent’s lives was being severely undermined”.