Parents of children with special needs 'should refuse to accept shorter school days'

Parents who are asked to accept a shorter school day for their children with special needs should refuse to do so, the lead author of a new report has suggested.

Carried out by Technological University (TU) Dublin on behalf of Inclusion Ireland, the report sets out that one in four children with disabilities are being effectively "suspended" by short school days, also known as “reduced timetables”. This figure is even higher for children with autism, where the figure was found to rise to one in three, the report also found.