Ms Lorraine Dempsey:

In terms of collating information, independent agencies have produced information for the return to school targeted at children of different age groups. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has a series of videos for different age groups on going back to school. The key point is that individual information for individual children has been problematic. We mentioned previously videos of the classroom providing a tour of what children with developmental disabilities or autism can expect when they walk in the school door and what their classroom will look like. These are all the key pieces that children who do not manage change very well would require. There has been a huge gap in the experience of parents around that very individualised information. Another point is to ensure that schools are signposting the information that is provided by the NCSE and other organisations such as the Middletown Centre for Autism, which all have back-to-school packs targeted at parents and children. If the information does not trickle down to the parents, how are they to know that it is available? Reports have been mixed as to whether parents have been aware of the information. That comes down to communications with schools directly.