Róisín Shortall
Question:117. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Skills the supports provided by his Department to the Dyspraxia Association of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51804/13]
View answerTuesday, 3 December 2013
Questions (117)
Written answers
I wish to advise to the Deputy that my Department does not provide direct funding to the Dyspraxia Association of Ireland. My Department provides for a range of services and supports to ensure that children with Special Educational Needs, including children with Dyspraxia or Developmental Co-ordination Delay, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs. These supports include additional teaching and care support, enhanced capitation, specialist school transport arrangements, assistive technology and/or specialist equipment, adaptations for school buildings where necessary and additional training for teachers of children with special educational needs, including teachers of children with Dyspraxia. Children with Dyspraxia may be entitled to additional teaching provision in school, either under the terms of the general allocation system of teaching supports if the educational psychological assessment places the child in the high incidence disability category or through an allocation of additional resources if the child is assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need, as defined by my Department's circular. The precise level of support is determined by the special educational needs of the particular child. Guidance has been provided for schools on the manner in which they should use the resources that have been allocated to them to best effect. My Department's Circular 02/05, which issued to all Primary schools, provides guidelines in relation to the establishment of a staged approach to assessment, identification and learning programme planning for pupils with special educational needs. Guidance for schools is provided in the circular for each step of the staged process. In addition, the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) has produced guidelines for schools entitled 'Special Needs Education – A Continuum of Support' which describes the graduated problem-solving model of assessment and intervention in schools, which is available on my Department's website www.education.gov.ie. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for the provision of a range of educational services at local and national level for students with special educational needs. In particular, its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) co-ordinates special needs education provision at local level and arranges for the delivery of special educational services. The SENOs act as single points of contact for parents of students with special educational needs. Each SENO works in an assigned local area with parents, schools, teachers, psychologists, health professionals and other staff who are involved in the provision of services in that area for children with special educational needs. All schools have contact details of their local SENO and it is also open to parents to contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs. The NCSE has recently published an Information Booklet for Parents of Children with Special Educational Needs, which is available on its website www.ncse.ie. Finally, the Department provides for support for teachers with additional training needs in the area of Dyspraxia. The Special Education Support Service (SESS) manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified teacher training needs. The SESS provides Continuing Professional Development (CPD) support for teachers of pupils with Dyspraxia through an Inclusive Learning Resource Teachers course as well as an online resource facility and an online book borrowing facility.