State criticised for immoral autism case

THE State’s defence of a High Court case taken by the parents of an autistic boy has been described as immoral by a teachers’ union leader.

At the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) annual convention in Sligo, its president Michael Freeley said every child must be given the opportunity to reach his or her potential.

He referred to the recent judgment in the case of six-year-old autistic Wicklow boy Seán Ó Cuanacháin, whose parents’ application to have the State provide a single method of teaching for him was turned down.

“In a wealthy country like Ireland it saddens me to think that the Sinnott, McNabb and other families have to take the legal route to secure an education for their children,” he said.

“If the educational and psychological experts feel Seán Ó Cuanacháin needs many hours of applied behaviour analysis to dramatically improve his ability to learn, then surely ‘the light of learning’, as his mother Yvonne said, should not be extinguished for Seán.

“It is immoral to think that the case had to run in the High Court for 68 days at an estimated cost of €5 million,” he said.

The ASTI president said it is unacceptable and unfair to teachers, parents and students that the overwhelming majority of teachers have never received any training or professional development in relation to mainstreaming students with special educational needs.

He called on the Department of Education to commit proper resources if the Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act is to be properly implemented.

Mr Freeley said it is essential more language support teachers are provided to allow for meaningful integration of children from other countries, while language support should also be provided for their families.

He called on the Government and school managers to support making physical education (PE) a mandatory second level subject.

“PE and games require urgent attention because, management in many schools believe training for sports and participating in competitions with other schools are an unnecessary interference in the smooth running of school,” he said.

He said PE is under-resourced but welcomed the recent announcement for its funding at second level by Education Minister Mary Hanafin.

“PE and sport promote lifelong physical activity and support the physical, psychological and social development of students. Participation in sport offers so many opportunities to our young people and helps in character building, leadership and teamwork.”