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Special Educational Needs

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 September 2021

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Questions (414)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

414. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education the supports that are available for children with severe dyslexia. [43378/21]

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Written answers

The Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs, including pupils with Specific Learning Disability (SLD); of which Dyslexia is one such SLD, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is a separate statutory agency, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for the provision of special educational needs supports to schools.  The NCSE operates within the Department's criteria in allocating such support.

All Primary schools have been allocated additional teaching resources to cater for children with special educational needs, including pupils with dyslexia.  In September 2017 the Department introduced a new model to support pupils with special educational needs in our schools. It is a matter for schools to monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified pupils, in accordance with the Department's guidance.  The teaching time afforded to each individual pupil is decided and managed by schools, taking into account each child's individual learning needs.

Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers have been published on the Department’s website, at www.education.ie/en/The-Education-System/Special-Education/Guidelines-for-Primary-Schools-Supporting-Pupils-with-Special-Educational-Needs-in-Mainstream-Schools.pdf  Schools are supported in this regard by the National Educational Psychological Services. 

Educational Psychologists from the Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) work with schools using a problem solving model to help schools identify need and interventions to support those needs.  Under the new model, NEPS encourages schools to use a continuum based assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Teachers may consult their NEPS psychologist should they wish to for advice. 

NEPS understands dyslexia in the context the severity and persistence of an individual’s needs over time and their response to intervention.  This approach aligns with the new Special Educational model in schools which focuses on the identification of need and the matching of specific interventions to that need.  Specific interventions are therefore tailored, by the school, to the individual’s observed needs by the school, rather than being generic to a specific difficulty or disability.

The Department also provides for special schools and special class placements where more intensive and supportive interventions are provided.  Special classes attached to mainstream primary schools also support the needs of pupils with dyslexia.  Such classes have a reduced pupil/teacher ratio of 9:1 and an increased level of capitation grant.  

Funding is available to schools under the assistive technology scheme for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers and/or software to assist children with special educational needs, including children with dyslexia.

Schools apply to the NCSE, through their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) for such support.  SENOs make recommendations to the Department where assistive technology is required, in accordance with the criteria set out in the Department's Circular 0010/2013. 

Further resources provided for pupils with dyslexia include reasonable accommodations in State Examinations such as the provision of a reader, use of a tape recorder or scribe, or a spelling and grammar waiver; further details are available on the State Examinations Commission website at www.examinations.ie/schools/circulars/reasonable-accommodations/. 

The Department encourages parents and school authorities to engage locally regarding pupils' education.  Should a parent be dissatisfied with the manner in which supports have been provided to support their child's education they should raise this matter directly with their school Principal or the Board of Management of the school.  Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's present or future educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

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