Ms Eileen O'Rourke:

Yes, because these children are already vulnerable. They have many more difficulties than children who are able to attend mainstream school and maybe not need any extra support. A child who already knows that they are very differently abled and who may have very complex feelings about that or who may not be able to communicate appropriately then they need somebody very specialised who can actually understand the messages that they are trying to send. As Mr. McGorman mentioned earlier, these can come out as behaviours of deep concern so highly assaultive and damaging behaviours. A child who behaves in that way is a child in crisis. Currently we do not have the personnel, we do not have the time and sometimes we do not have the appropriate physical space to support that child even within the school and classrooms.