Parents in row with O’Keeffe over exemption of autism school

PARENTS at a school for children with autism are in dispute with Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe over what they claim is the exclusion of their school from talks for formal Government recognition.

The Department of Education is in negotiations with Irish Autism Action about the recognition of 13 pilot centres teaching autistic children predominantly through applied behavioural analysis (ABA). While the department normally only funds special schools using a mix of ABA and other methods, it is close to finalising arrangements to formalise recognition of the ABA schools with one of the main issues being the qualifications of teaching staff.

However, parents whose children are being taught through ABA at a centre in Barnacoyle, Co Wicklow, claim they are the only ABA school excluded from the talks. Among the 30 pupils at the centre is eight-year-old Seán O Cuanacháin, whose parents are awaiting the hearing of a Supreme Court appeal into their failed High Court bid two years ago to have his ABA education funded by the State.