Ms Teresa Maher:

Transition is a major difficulty for children and their families. Where a child falls within a family can also be either a help or hindrance. In the case of a first child, for example, because it will be the first experience of second level education, it can be much more daunting for parents than when the child is the third or fourth sibling to enter the same school. Very little work is being done on the transition from primary to secondary school for children with special needs. There is little enough work being done on the transition for mainstream students. Primary school pupils can filter into three, four or five different secondary schools when they leave sixth class. One issue that can help is the concept of an education passport where a specific selection of information would be written down and certain questions would be asked, such as how a child's needs could be addressed in certain circumstances and what circumstances would make life very difficult for the child. It would be very helpful if a standardised passport could be developed.

A one-size-fits-all approach is not the answer to special educational needs and children with difference. This makes the issue most challenging for school principals. For example, a school may have had one deaf pupil in the past and then believes it knows everything about deafness. However, the needs of the next 16 deaf or hard-of-hearing children will be totally different. Comorbidity of disabilities, an issue of which I have personal experience because my son is deaf and has Down's syndrome, becomes even more challenging because the child does not fit neatly into the mould of deaf or the mould of having Down's syndrome. It is difficult to work out whether special classes will support the child's overall needs or speak to one specific part of the child's needs. That is my starting position.