Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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According to the definition of the American Psychiatric Association, autism is a neuro-developmental disorder characterised by impaired social interaction, impaired verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted and repetitive behaviour. The rapid prompting method, which is the subject of this Adjournment matter, is a method for teaching a child to respond to his or her teacher by making 50-50 choices on paper. Gradually, a child with autism is taught how to point to letters on a letter board to spell out answers. This leads to the child expressing his or her own thoughts by spelling sentences on the letter board and, eventually, the child is taught to spell on a keyboard or ipad that speaks what he or she has written.

This gives a child a new way to communicate with others. It is very successful for people with autism who have no or limited speech. With the incidence of autism in Ireland high - according to a 2003 study, approximately one child in every 100 is somewhere on the autism spectrum - this is a very important matter.

The rapid prompting method, RPM, has been used in the United States for over ten years with extraordinary results. Thousands have been helped to realise their potential to communicate through means other than speech. The context is that applied behaviour analysis, ABA, is the predominant treatment used in Ireland for children with autism. It focuses on the principles that explain how learning takes place, using positive reinforcement, that is, where behaviour is followed by some reward, it is more likely to be repeated. The field of behaviour analysis has developed many techniques for increasing useful behaviours and reducing those that may cause harm or interfere with learning. However, there are approximately 25 families in Ireland who have discovered the rapid prompting method and I have spoken in detail to one about their experience. We often overuse words such as "amazing", "transformative" and "extraordinary". However, these words do help to describe the experiences of the families who have used this method to help their children.

I know the O'Láimhín family from Swinford, County Mayo. Nuala O'Láimhín is a teacher and the mother of Seosamh, a 16 year old boy with severe autism. Nuala and her husband, Padraig, have been using the rapid prompting method with their son in their home since May 2013. Nuala tells me that life for Seosamh and their family has been transformed since they started using the method. She has said - these are her words - that they have been blown away by the results, in particular, by how their son is communicating with them for the first time about his illness and personality. She says he has been liberated from the prison of his illness and can now express his thoughts, hopes and desires for the future. She has eloquently and emotionally told me that the rapid prompting method has allowed them to meet their son for the first time in 15 years. The barrier erected by his illness has come crashing down. She says the amazing thing about the rapid prompting method is that they have discovered Seosamh appears to be of normal intelligence on the inside, but he was never able to express it before or show them that he could understand them. They were always told that he had a mental age of two years, but now they realise he can understand everything they say. They have also discovered that he can spell, even though he was never taught to do so.

Caroline Galvin's ten year old son, Adam, has autism. He was in the special class in his primary school until his family used the rapid prompting method system and the results were extraordinary. He has moved from the special class to mainstream fourth class with his peers. What is even more remarkable is that the teacher told Adam's mother that the other children in the class were copying his work during a spelling test. Caroline Galvin is working with Nuala O'Láimhín to introduce the rapid prompting method system into Ireland. They have organised workshops in Swinford - fair play to them - for parents from around the country. Parents who have started to use the rapid prompting method with their children have discovered its extraordinary results. Another amazing benefit is that it has allowed children with autism to access age-appropriate academic subjects. It allows a child to develop the skill of spelling on the letter board and thereby interact with the teacher and other students during lessons generally.

Another child, Fiachra Ryan from Claremorris, has moved from an autism unit to mainstream secondary school and taking first year academic subjects with his peers.

Owing to their inability to communicate, children such as those whom I have mentioned were written off as unable to learn with their peers. The rapid prompting method, has transformed their lives for the better and the word is beginning to spread about it. Many professionals, teachers, speech therapists, special education lecturers and so on are attending workshops organised by the volunteers in Swinford. It is not within the brief of the Minister present, but I hope the Minister for Education and Skills will meet the group of parents in County Mayo to show an interest and support, with a view to raising the issue of the future use of the rapid prompting method in schools. It is such a powerful method that I expect its use will be requested by other parents of children with autism in the near future. Already the volunteers in County Mayo are being inundated with inquiries from parents who want their children to attend the next workshop in March 2015. These parents are active and going to keep going, with the support of teachers and other professionals. Last Wednesday the group of parents met a lady from an independent film company, who is making a three part programme about people with autism. She will be including an item on the rapid prompting method and the children from County Mayo, which is great news.

I am disappointed that the Minister for Education and Skills is not present, but I hope the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will take this message to her and that we will receive an early response that the Government is not going to lag behind but be out front in encouraging these brave and innovative families not only with words but also with support from the State. I hope that as we hear more about the transformative power of the rapid prompting method the Department will take an active interest in working with parents who are spending so much of their time and money on introducing this system to Ireland, not just for their own benefit but also that of the whole community.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I advise him that the Department's policy is to promote a child-centred approach to the education of all children with special educational needs, including those with autism.

Autism is a spectrum disorder and each child will have individual needs. Accordingly, they should have access to a range of approaches to meet their individual needs. The preferred approach is to provide for the education of children with autism through the primary and post-primary school network which facilitates access to individualised education programmes and fully qualified professional teachers who may draw on a range of autism specific interventions, including applied behaviour analysis, ABA, the treatment and education of autistic communication handicapped children programme and the picture exchange communications system. In school settings children with autism may have access to individualised education plans, fully qualified professional teachers, special needs assistants and the appropriate school curriculum with the option, where possible and appropriate, of full or partial integration and interaction with other pupils.

The child centred policy is based on advice received from the National Educational Psychological Service, the Department's inspectorate and the report of the Irish task force on autism and takes full account of advice from a range of experts on autism. The Department recognises that specialised training and continued professional development is important for staff working with children with special educational needs. The Department supports the provision of continued professional development through the Special Education Support Service which was specifically established for this purpose.

The Special Education Support Service co-ordinates and delivers a range of professional development initiatives and support structures for school personnel working with students with special educational needs, including autism. The Department remains willing to review and consider any further research as and when it becomes available and is conscious of the need to adapt existing policies and develop new ones as new research or learning becomes available. In this regard, I advise the House that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is preparing policy advice on the education of children with autism. The Minister specifically asked the NCSE for this advice and to review, with particular reference to educational and social outcomes, the effectiveness of the range of evidence based practices and interventions for the education of children with autism. She also asked it to identify the nature and extent of educational interventions, teaching practices and other supports which should be provided to enable children with autism to achieve educational outcomes appropriate to their needs and abilities. I expect that it will consider all evidence based interventions and that this will include the intervention to which the Senator has referred.

In this context, the Minister does not want to prejudge the outcome of the work of the NCSE, the policy advice of which will be delivered in the spring of 2015 and draw on findings gathered from an extensive consultation process with parents, schools, professional service providers and other stakeholders which is nearing completion. The advice will also draw on new research commissioned by the NCSE for this purpose, as well as any other research which may be available and which it considers merits consideration. The Minister expects that its final report will reflect the broadest possible range of views and provide recommendations which will assist the development of policy and educational interventions for children with autism for future years.

I thank the House, on behalf of the Minister, for the opportunity to discuss this very important matter and inform it of the important work being undertaken by the NCSE. I have every confidence that the policy advice will provide a strong basis for future educational provision for children with autism in Ireland.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for being present, but I am very disappointed by the response she has been given. It is full of Civil Service speak and passes the ball completely to the NCSE and presumes that it will look at the issue. I do not know from the speech the Minister has delivered whether the Department or the NCSE has one iota of knowledge of the existence of the rapid prompting method.

I would have thought that, at the very least, the Department would undertake to examine the issue and ask the NCSE to give some kind of response on whether it considers investment and promotion of the rapid prompting method, or RPM, to be suitable. This answer could have been given in relation to a myriad of different issues. It is complete civil servants' speak and I am disappointed because it tells me nothing about whether the Department knows or cares anything about this.

Since the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is not here, I ask the Minister present, Deputy Heather Humphreys, to raise this matter with her at my request and on behalf of the families who care so much about the rapid prompting method and who are encouraged by it. Will she draw this to the Minister for Education and Skills' attention and ask her to bring this forward in her Department? The Department of Education and Skills should examine the RPM, find out more and tell us what they think of it, given the current state of knowledge about it.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I will ensure that the Senator's contribution outlining the benefits of RPM is brought to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I will raise it with her.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Thank you very much.