Hanafin’s FF colleagues favour ABA

EDUCATION Minister Mary Hanafin has come under further pressure to amend her strict policy on how autistic children are taught from her own party colleagues.

Almost two-thirds of Fianna Fáil backbenchers surveyed by radio station Newstalk’s The Breakfast Show believe the Government should make Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) education more widely available.

The Department of Education funds 12 ABA schools but is no longer funding new centres, as it wants children with autism taught through a number of methods in units attached to mainstream schools. Ms Hanafin insists that international research shows children do better learning through a mix of ABA and other methods.

But the Newstalk survey, to which 37 of the 45 backbenchers in her party responded, shows strong support for an extension of ABA services.

While 10 deputies said they did not know, 24 indicated they think the Government should make ABA education more available than it currently plans to and only three did not agree.

The details emerged as the Educate Together network of schools attacked the minister for asking one of its primary schools to open an autism unit without the support of health therapists.

Ms Hanafin called on Castleknock Educate Together last week to open the unit — for which it has a purpose-built classroom and staffing approval - but the organisation said this could not be done without the appropriate health services.

“Asking a school to open a unit without services is tantamount to demanding the opening of a hospital ward without doctors. It is reckless, irresponsible and completely unacceptable,” said Educate Together chief executive Paul Rowe.

The school itself said that it has strong professional advice against opening the unit without the expertise of occupational, speech and behavioural therapy specialists provided by the Health Service Executive.

The Department of Education said last night that not all 100 autism classes set up in the past year had therapies in place when they opened.

A spokesperson said the minister is working with Health Minister Mary Harney to overcome issues which are delaying provision of therapies at Castleknock Educate Together.