Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As parents we all know that children face challenges including special needs, additional needs and learning challenges such as dyslexia and dyspraxia. These children need to be nurtured with special supports and assessments and a clear pathway set out in order that they can receive every opportunity to grow and be the best they can possibly be, to attend school, play with their friends, enjoy life and receive an education. Some parents of children with special needs experience a system that seems focused on containment rather than education. They battle every day to get the correct resources and wraparound supports.

The first challenge parents and teachers face is to get the correct assessment for the child. Schools get an annual allowance to have two children assessed. If I were to make one request it would be that schools be enabled to assess more than two children per year. A school principal told me recently that it is like playing God. He has to decide which children to pick out of which classes and he has to determine which parents might be able to afford support, or borrow the money to get it. If a child is assessed, a clear pathway can be signposted for the correct supports to be put in place.

It is unfair to the child, the teacher, the SNA and the parents, to put a child with special needs in a mainstream classroom without an assessment. The child may be in the wrong class in the wrong school. Early intervention is vital. Two assessments a year in a national school is certainly not enough.

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