Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I second the motion, which is timely in the aftermath of the High Court case the Minister attempted to defend, bringing the parents of an autistic child through the courts to justify her single-minded attitude towards the provision of education for children with autism.

The Department's policy on provision of services for autistic children is to integrate children to the mainstream education, providing autistic classes in the mainstream setting. While this approach works for a number of children, others are not ready for the mainstream setting and are specifically recommended by psychologists for applied behavioural analysis. This form of tuition gives a child the opportunity to learn how to learn.

It is important the Minister for Education and Science accepts the scientific background of this method and its proven record of success. Many parents maintain that, with proper early intervention, many children can have a chance of escaping the most severe effects of their condition. Studies in the past 40 years indicate that up to half of preschool children with autism who receive this tuition can progress to mainstream primary schools without additional support.

I refer the Minister to a statement of an elderly man at a meeting in Galway recently. It brings home the message of what is in the distance for many young children. The elderly man has a son in his mid-20s. Due to the lack of early intervention the son has been institutionalised since he was 17 years of age because his parents were unable to look after him. The man visits his son, who is left alone in a small room for 24 hours a day. He can no longer communicate with anyone and will live out his life in this way. The call of the elderly man was that he wanted his son to be happy and content and have some degree of independence. If the Minister continues her present stance we will hear many more similar pleas.

The Minister has an opportunity to take action, having been advised from all sources to change her single-minded attitude. She twists the facts when she justifies her decision not to fund behavioural treatment of children with autism. The Minister uses the findings of the autism task force report to substantiate her claims but she is never fully accurate. She picks and chooses the parts she wishes to believe and continues to refer to figures such as the number of special needs assistants who have been appointed. These assistants are untrained and act in a caring capacity, mainly with little educational input. This evening, on "Six One", the Minister referred to figures to justify her stance. The Government has allocated few resources to in-service training for mainstream teachers to cope with pupils with special needs.

Many experts in special needs have clearly stated that the Minister is misguided. Indeed, Deputy Brian Hayes referred to this in this debate. The co-author on the Government task force on autism has accused the Minister of following a grossly misguided policy of education for autistic children, one that is not backed up by scientific evidence. Dr. Rita Honan of Trinity College stated that the Minister's policy of not providing funding for additional applied behavioural analysis classes meant that many autistic children were missing out on leading normalised and productive lives.

International research in the past 40 years, particularly that carried out at Southampton University, shows that over half of the children who engaged in applied behavioural analysis treatment as the primary preschool method of intervention progress to mainstream education without additional support. The Minister stated that the Government favours the eclectic approach, based on the conclusions of the task force, which states that a range of educational approaches should be offered to children, including applied behavioural analysis. The Minister stated that new classes specialising in applied behavioural analysis are not being funded for a number of reasons, including the lack of teaching qualifications of the tutors and because applied behavioural analysis focuses on a teaching behaviour. Many Deputies have taken her up on this.

The Minister has not educated herself sufficiently on the various methods of educational intervention for children with autism. She consistently makes basic errors in referring to applied behavioural analysis. If she has read anything about the approach or visited any classroom that follows it, it would be clear that the theoretical orientation is used to teach children the basic learning behaviour but also language, speech, self care and life skills. Even at this 12th hour, with 150 parents awaiting a turnabout, the Minister must change her decision. Some 905 children await speech and language assessment in County Galway. Can the Minister for Education and Science justify that?

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