Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2015
180. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school leavers in 2014 with an intellectual disability (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7505/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that, while there is not presently a distinct disability category of Asperger's Syndrome for resource allocation purposes, such children are generally supported through the resourcing mechanisms which are in place for supporting children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
As such, the specific information requested by the Deputy is not available. However, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has advised that the number of post primary students categorised as ASD accessing resource teaching hours and identified as leavers at end of the 2013/14 school year was 375 students.
It is important to note that this does not include pupils with Asperger's Syndrome who attend Special Schools, or pupils attending mainstream school who have not been allocated Resource Teaching support by the NCSE, or who are supported by a school's allocation of additional teaching resources for pupils with high incidence special educational needs.
