Ms M?ir?n N? Ch?ileachair:

Tá an-áthas orainn a bheith anseo inniu. Gabhaimid buíochas leis an gcoiste as an gcuireadh teacht agus labhairt ina láthair. The INTO is the oldest and largest teachers’ trade union in Ireland, representing almost 50,000 teachers at primary level in the Republic of Ireland and primary and post-primary level in Northern Ireland. We welcome the opportunity to address the committee. We would like to focus on access to assessment and early intervention, issues with assessment of need and some current challenges being experienced in the education system. We would also like to look briefly at the need for autism-friendly school buildings.

I know the Minister spoke to the committee this morning. She probably bamboozled members with the same statistics that I will. There are currently 3,329 primary schools on the Department of Education’s database. In the 2022-23 school year, there will be 1,548 autism classes and early intervention classes across all primary schools. This is an increase of 674 classes since 2018. The number of autism classes has almost doubled from 743 to 1,404 over that period. It shows that schools are committed to providing inclusive education for all pupils. These statistics speak for themselves.

As inclusive education has evolved in recent years, autism spectrum disorder, ASD, and special classes have become an integral and essential part of the Irish education system. It is important that the State continues to offer a range of provision to ensure that children obtain the best possible education in a setting that suits their needs. The INTO believes that all schools are inclusive schools, including special schools and schools with ASD and special classes. Inclusive education does not necessarily mean that all pupils must be enrolled in mainstream classes. The INTO believes that a range of options across a continuum of provision must continue to be available to parents.

In making this submission, we emphasise that the INTO has long advocated the need for improvements to educational provision for students with ASD. In 2014, we called for increased emphasis on early intervention, targeted professional development relating to ASD and improvements regarding the transfer of information process. I know the Minister referred to transitions this morning.

The INTO is fully supportive of the policy of inclusion, where it is in the best interests of the child and where resources are provided to meet the needs of the child. We must always be mindful of the potential effect of having a child who is either misplaced in a mainstream setting or for whom the back-up support services are not being provided by the State. The maintenance of a continuum of provision to include ASD and special classes is essential to ensure that the educational needs of all children are met.

An inclusive approach to education that is not fully supported through the provision of resources, support and therapeutic services, as well as professional development, places an intolerable burden on families and on school communities. Pupils who access ASD classes and early intervention ASD classes have unique additional needs that require specific therapeutic support that is often beyond the remit of a teacher. Due to a lack of therapists, teachers are being asked to take on duties that other professionals, such as speech and language therapists or occupational therapists, would normally carry out. While we welcome the commitment by the Government to continue to pilot a model of in-school speech and language therapy, we further recommend that other therapies, such as mental health supports, should be available to children on-site at schools. It is imperative that the Department of Education and its counterparts in the Departments of Health and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth devise a model to enable children attending school to be provided with the therapeutic services which they require, preferably in an in-school, on-site arrangement.

Collaborative multidisciplinary assessments should be readily available in a pre-school setting to facilitate early intervention. Timely access to therapeutic supports and other services is essential if early years settings and early intervention ASD classes are to provide targeted interventions at an early stage in the child's education.

Schools should be better supported in the transition of children with special educational needs from pre-school to primary and from primary to post-primary level. Protocols should be agreed about the transfer of information and continuity of support to ensure that there is no gap in the provision of resources.

While it is regrettable that the increase in special classes at primary is not currently matched by corresponding increases of special class provision at second level, we realise that there are improvements in the pipeline. This creates significant difficulties for pupils transferring from primary to post primary, particularly those who require a continuity of experience and support.

On assessment of need, AON, we all know the Disability Act 2005 provides for the assessment of health and educational needs of persons with disabilities as occasioned by those disabilities. All children and young people born on or after 1 June 2002 are eligible to apply for an assessment of need under the Act, regardless of their age at the time of application. As a union, we are painfully aware that the HSE is currently unable to provide assessments as envisioned in the Act. Children all over the country are currently awaiting a full assessment to determine whether they have a disability as defined by the Act, the diagnosis of which could lead to more targeted interventions and supports being provided in schools and early years settings.

Following a recent legal judgment in 2021, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, now has the responsibility to nominate an appropriate person to carry out an assessment of education needs for children on behalf of the HSE under the AON process. This assessment of education needs will be informed by existing school-based information, which provides details of a student’s education needs as identified by the school. Schools will need to be supported by the NCSE and the Department of Education in providing the information necessary. The INTO is calling for substituted release time for school personnel who are responsible for the compilation of these reports to be provided, given this is such an important element of the process. We are also calling for the State to do all in its power to ensure that there are sufficient personnel in all HSE areas to carry out an effective assessment of needs under the 2005 Act.

The expectation gap between schools and the HSE needs to be closed and a clear policy developed in relation to the provision of services for children.

I will focus on some challenges. While we would welcome the publication of the Guidelines for Setting Up and Organising Special Classes 2016 for boards of management and principals of schools, we advocate for better planning across the system for the establishment of special classes for children with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, to ensure all pupils have access, irrespective of demographics or geographical location. The union notes the engagement in schools to date as evidenced by the exceptional increase in provision since 2018.

The INTO would also at this point like to condemn the recent naming of four Dublin schools by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and once again calls on the Minister of State to apologise to the schools in question.

We also welcome the recent publication by the Psychological Society of Ireland of the Professional Practice Guidelines for the Assessment, Formulation, and Diagnosis of Autism in Children and Adolescents, which could prove invaluable to psychologists.

We note with positivity the proposals of the NCSE’s Policy Advice on the Education of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder proposing that professional development opportunities should be made available for principal teachers, particularly in relation to setting up and managing special classes. However, we believe that induction and ongoing professional development are vital for all teachers working in special education settings. In this regard, we welcome the NCSE recommendation that special class teachers should be supported to engage in appropriate learning opportunities to ensure they have the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary for that role. However, teachers would value more opportunities for professional development in the form of summer courses to ensure they are prepared in advance of their placement in special classes in September, rather than subsequent to their placement. Furthermore, teachers should also have the opportunity to visit other special classes first-hand to see how these classes operate. Again, substitute cover and time must be in place for these visits and liaisons with other schools to be accommodated. Ongoing professional development must be provided to ensure that teachers engage in current and best practice at all times.

We are aware of and support the public calls for public buildings to be more autism-friendly. However, the provision of ASD classes in primary schools is not as simple as identifying a space and providing adequate furniture. ASD classrooms need to be correctly designed as suitable learning environments for children with ASD, particularly those with associated sensory difficulties. Outside the ASD classroom, schools need to be reconfigured with indoor and outdoor sensory spaces and learning environments. Issues such as lighting, noise management and even the colour schemes need to be addressed throughout buildings to ensure and facilitate inclusion. Outdoor areas such as pathways, walkways and play areas also need to be designed to meet the needs of all pupils. All ASD classrooms and the schools providing them need to be fully and properly resourced.

In conclusion, teachers are to the fore in making inclusion a reality in mainstream schools and ASD and special classes. The Department of Education and the NCSE need to acknowledge and address their needs and experience, including their health and safety needs and their professional development needs. For a policy of inclusion to be successful, teachers in ASD and special classes must be supported with professional development opportunities, access to multidisciplinary services and adequate resources and facilities. The INTO is engaged in ongoing consultation with teachers and principal teachers to ascertain their views on the provision of ASD and special classes and we explored this issue in depth at our biennial special education conference in March 2019.

We strongly believe that ASD and special classes can and must continue to provide an essential part of the continuum of provision for children with special educational needs and look forward to engaging in more detailed discussion on the issue.

Gura míle maith agaibh as ucht éisteacht liom.