Autistic boy falls victim to cut in special needs staff

ÁINE McLATCHIE fears that her autistic son, Daniel’s, progress could be reversed after his school was told the number of staff helping children with special needs is to fall from five to two next month, despite the Government insisting there will be no cuts to such services.

The seven-year-old was allocated a full-time special needs assistant (SNA) when he started at Lower Glanmire National School in New Inn just outside Cork city. But while he has excelled academically, the first-class pupil still has emotional problems which require attention.

“He is doing third-class spellings and he loves learning and reading books. But he gets very upset at least once a day at school and needs the SNA there to calm him,” explained his mother. “This cutback will mean he only has access to an SNA at the start of school every day, during breaks and at home time. I’m afraid to think of the state he’ll be in coming home from school, and he might not want to go to anymore.”

School principal Mícheál Ó Deasmhúnaigh said the news last week from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has also devastated the families of other four children, who include another pupil with autism, a child with cerebral palsy and another with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The 228-pupil school was told its allocation must be reduced to two SNAs by February 9. As a result, one of these staff will be shared among four pupils, including Daniel.

“Schools were being told a few years ago they would be given resources to support children with special needs. But, once that help is removed, the danger is that they will not be able to cope as well as they did and their educational progress could be reversed,” said Mr Ó Deasmhúnaigh.

He also questioned the fact that a school cannot appeal the decision of an NCSE officer.

The NCSE said it does not comment on individual cases, but said in a statement that, in many cases, the level of care needs can diminish over time as a child develops more independent skills. “This factor, together with the reducing demands on other SNA resources as a result of children leaving a school, may warrant a reduction in the total SNA allocation in that school.”

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has been adamant that special needs services, including the provision of SNAs, will not be affected by budget cuts. He told the Irish Examiner situations in which a primary school might lose SNAs include where a pupil moves on to second level or progresses enough not to need the service.

Labour Party councillor John Gilroy said the community would help fight the decision, a result of Government cutbacks, despite promises that the most vulnerable citizens would not be affected.