Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Children up to the age of three are now entitled to ten hours of home tuition per week, increasing to 20 hours per week once the child is three years of age. Some 23 autism-specific preschools have also been established. The expansion of this preschool network is a priority for us for the coming years.

Services for school-age children with autism have been dramatically transformed for the better in recent years. The major increases in the numbers of special education teachers and assistants has enabled approximately 2,100 autistic children to be integrated into mainstream classes in their local schools, with the benefit of specialised education and care supports as needed. Places have also been created for nearly 1,000 more children in autism-specific classes in mainstream schools all over the country. There are also places for more than 500 other children in autism-specific classes in special schools. A further 244 children attend the centres which are being funded under the pilot ABA scheme.

Therefore, from a position of very limited autism-specific provision a few years ago, there are now places for approximately 3,600 children in special classes in mainstream or special schools. As I mentioned, the number of special classes for children with autism has been increased by 40% in the past year alone. The Department of Education and Science will pay for transport to the nearest class. Home tuition is available for children who are having difficulty securing an appropriate placement, though the number of children in that position is now very small.

Children in special classes have the benefit of fully qualified teachers who are trained in educating and developing children generally and who have access to additional training in autism-specific approaches, including the picture exchange communication system, PECS, applied behavioural analysis and the treatment and education of autistic and communication handicapped children, TEACCH, method. The level of such training available to teachers has improved dramatically in recent years and is a major priority for the Government. Our special classes are child centred, not method centred.

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