Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
572. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Education if she has plans to undertake a consultation on the medical and social models of service provision to autistic pupils; and if she has plans to undertake a consultation on the use of identity-first and person-first language in materials produced by her Department. [17636/23]
View answerI would like to thank the Deputy for the question and wish to advise the following:
There is no universally agreed consensus on what terminology to use in relation to disability and there is currently no consensus regarding an alternative for the word ‘special’ in an education context.
As noted by the National Disability Authority in their recent advice paper on Disability Language and Terminology (NDA, 2022), some people use the term ‘additional education needs’ to replace SEN which is not fully satisfactory from an inclusive education perspective, as all children and students have individualised needs and no-one’s needs are additional. The term SEN is used in legislation which means at present its use is unavoidable.
It is recognised the variations in language usage to describe special educational needs and disability, for some individuals, person first language (PFL), for example, “person or individual with disability” is the preferred term, for others, their preference is identity first language (IFL), for example “autistic”.
Some young people and adults have indicated that they prefer to use the term ‘autistic’ as they believe this embraces their neurological difference (AsIAm, 2019). Importantly, teachers and other professionals can acknowledge individual preferences by asking parents and students their preferred term and applying this in their communication.
My Department is conscious that language around Autism and special or additional needs is constantly evolving.
Officials in my Department have begun consideration of a recently-published National Disability Authority Advice Paper on Disability Language and Terminology in the context of ongoing work in the Department.
