Liz McManus
Question:166 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Education in view of the need for remedial teaching for a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow who is dyslexic if she will grant aid the family to assist this person.
Written Answers. - Education Grant-Aid.
The educational needs of children with specific learning disability, sometimes referred to as dyslexia, are generally capable of being met within the ordinary school system, with the assistance, where appropriate, of a remedial teacher.
Fully qualified primary school teachers are trained to deal with a variety of reading problems, including those which are accompanied by perceptual difficulties. In addition the special training programme for remedial teachers includes a module on specific learning disability.
Where more serious cases of difficulty arise, provision is made in one of the three special schools dedicated to the needs of such children. Two of these schools are located in Dublin and one in Cork.
While fully recognising the important support provided by parents and other groups, my intention for the present is to concentrate available resources on the development of school-based strategies to address the needs of the children in question.
In this connection, the Deputy may be aware of my recently announced intention to appoint an additional 100 remedial teachers in 1994.
If the Deputy wishes to provide further details of the case, I will arrange to have the question of suitable educational support examined by my Department.