Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank Carmel very much for coming in and presenting the rapid prompting method, RPM, which has proven very successful for Fiacre and other children. I got an email from another young woman and parent whose daughter attends Mercy College in Sligo town. She is using it as well and it has been very successful. I commend Fiacre on being a powerful advocate for himself and his other colleagues who are in the same situation.

This is the main question I want to ask. Carmel said the Department of Education does not recognise RPM because it has not been fully researched. Yet, her initial contact was with people in the United States. Is it recognised anywhere else in the world as a tool for people who are non-verbal to use? How does Carmel think we can get the Department of Education to recognise it? Senator Flynn is right in that it is working and a pilot scheme would be good. How can we as a committee then get this implemented, or assist in getting it implemented, in the school curriculum?