Ms Helen Walsh:

Deputy Tully is right about the fears as they relate to the nature of the role. It is very much within the SIM. Our therapists complement the work of the CDNTs. They are not at loggerheads in that space. We have had great interactions with therapists from CDNTs right across that former CHO area. We would say they are complementary because the SIM works on the basis of trying to improve teacher capacity in a co-production way with teachers. It moves away from a caseload model of working with individual children to support the needs of all children in an inclusive environment, whether it be through language needs, regulation needs or OT needs. The aim is to build the capacity of teachers themselves to be able to regulate their own learning environments with the support of therapists and the approach of being therapy-informed is key to that.

CDNTs work on a different model, which is one on one and with specific needs. Neither of the two is at loggerheads with the other. They very much complement each other.