Vol. 534 No. 1
207 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science the authority or Department which arranges the assessment for persons with dyslexia and ADHD; the person or body which decides where these people are placed; the number of qualified people employed in this process; and his views on whether it is satisfactory. [10078/01]
Generally, parents or teachers are the first people to suspect that a child might have special educational needs such as dyslexia or ADHD. The usual procedure is that, following consultation with the parents of the child, the school refers the child for assessment to the appropriate service provider for that school. This may be a psychologist employed by the National Educational Psychological Service, or a psychologist or other professional employed directly by the health board or by a voluntary body working on its behalf. The service provider then arranges the assessment in consultation with the parents and school. Some parents arrange for private assessments. If special educational needs are diagnosed as a result of the assessment, the decision on referral for suitable placement is made by the psychologist or other professional who conducted the assessment, in consultation with the parents. I am not aware of the number of qualified people engaged in this work who are employed by health boards and voluntary bodies. There are 80 psychologists employed by the NEPS and all of them are fully qualified psychologists. The NEPS provides a service for all post-primary schools and approximately 1,300 primary schools. Under the terms of the Government's decision to establish the NEPS, it is expanding in a phased and orderly manner until every school will have access to its service. Pending this development, children from schools other than those served by the NEPS will be referred to professionals in the health sector. Even after the target of full coverage has been reached, it will be necessary for some children, particularly those with ADHD, to have multi-disciplinary assessments, involving professional personnel from both the education and health sectors.
