Niamh Smyth
Question:12. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education the reason a person (details supplied) cannot get assistive technology assistance to help with their education going forward. [35110/21]
View answerThursday, 1 July 2021
Questions (12)
Oral answers (8 contributions)
I will continue in that vein and thank the Minister and the Minister of State for the July provision. I have had numerous schools, special needs assistants, SNAs, teachers and parents contact me who will benefit from that and it is wonderful to see. I want to ask about a particular student, namely, Aoibhinn O'Reilly. She is a student at St. Mary's National School, Crosserlough, who is awaiting assistive technology for her education. She applied last October and I wonder if the Minister could give us an update.
I thank Deputy Niamh Smyth for the question. One of my stated action priorities is to support and develop the assistive technology scheme to ensure it is of most benefit to those who need it. This is something I am considering as the Minister of State responsible. As we know, specialist equipment is required by some children with more complex special educational needs to access the curriculum properly and to participate in school learning activities. For this purpose, funding was provided to schools under the assistive technology scheme for the purchase of computers and specialist equipment, where students do not have access to such equipment for teaching and learning.
The type of equipment we provide under the scheme is varied. It includes audiological supports for students who have hearing impairment, braille equipment for children with visual impairment and computer equipment with associated modified software for students with physical or severe communicative disabilities. The NCSE is responsible, through its network of special education needs organisers, SENOs, for processing these applications from schools for assistive technology support. Schools make their applications directly to their local SENO or visiting teacher and provide the details of the student's special education needs, including the details of the approach taken by the school in making the relevant intervention. The SENOs will review applications. I understand that in the case of the pupil referred to by Deputy Smyth, it was not possible to approve the application because it did not confirm a diagnosed disability or medical condition in line with the criteria of the scheme. It is open to the school to appeal that decision and the appeals process is outlined on the Department's website.
I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive reply and detailed outlining of the requirements. I have been in a classroom and have seen how assistive technology can have an enormous positive impact on the needs of students in participating in mainstream education. For teachers, it is an extra piece of work to do when they have assistive technology but for the students, the benefits are significant and should be embraced.
As the Minister of State is aware, Aoibhinn's application was made last October. I am glad to hear there is an appeals process and that door is not closed on her. She is a student whose mobility is debilitating in terms of her capacity to participate in school. She suffers from joint hypermobility and the assistive technology she needs would be most important in helping with her reading and writing. After 16 months of going in and out of school, between homeschooling and schooling in the classroom, we know how important technology is for everybody. I appeal to the Minister of State, if it is possible, to ensure that this student gets the assistive technology requested.
Deputy Smyth is correct in stating the diagnosis is joint hypermobility syndrome. It is simply a matter of meeting the criteria demanded and required of this application process. The original application stated that her handwriting was good, for example. There was an element about her experiencing tiredness and issues in respect of carrying her school bag. If the criteria specifically relating to the physical or communicative disability are outlined with recommendations from a professional assessment, including the fact that the school cannot provide the technology the applicant badly needs, the appeal should be successful. Obviously, I cannot guarantee that but the appeal will be fully reviewed, once the criteria are set out in that application. At the end of the day, we want to support children with additional needs who have difficulty assessing knowledge and learning adequately and who require the assistive technology to do that.
I am a bit uncomfortable going into the details of a specific case. I presume Deputy Smyth has permission to raise the name.
I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. This is an issue which has been ongoing for the student since October 2020. During the pandemic, it has been highlighted that technology is extremely important. The Minister of State has said that there is another opportunity for this student to have her application looked at again and that the appeals process is there. That would be most helpful to her and her parents, who have been in contact with me and are very concerned that she receive extra help in school. For any student who has additional learning needs or mobility problems, if there is anything we can do to assist them and embrace their educational opportunities, we need to do that. I welcome the response from the Minister of State this morning.
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her clarifying comments around the identity of the child that Deputy Smyth named. While I have not named the child, I am aware of the application. Once the criteria are set out, the appeal will be fully reviewed by the NCSE and the Department. Ultimately, the purpose of the scheme is to provide grant aid to schools to allow them to prioritise the type of specialist equipment recommended by the NCSE as being essential for those who have a physical, sensory or communicative disability, to the extent that the ability to communicate through the medium of speech or writing is materially curtailed and where it is clear that the existing equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs without unduly depriving other children of access to the equipment or where, without such equipment, it would not be possible for such children to access the school curriculum.
With Members' co-operation, we will get to two more questions.