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.