Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 214: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department will fund a pilot scheme to test the effectiveness of the Son-Rise treatment for autistic children. [37142/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department supports a multi-skills approach to the education of children with autism, where a range of teaching methods can be applied specific to the needs of individual pupils. My Department currently has no plans to implement the Son-Rise programme on a pilot basis.

The Deputy will be familiar with the variety of current provision in this regard, which includes pre-school classes for children with autism, special classes for children with autism attached to special schools and mainstream schools, special classes for Asperger's syndrome plus a range of supports for pupils with autism integrated in mainstream classes. A pilot scheme facilitated the establishment of 12 specific autism units nationwide.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 215: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress that has been made in developing a national education centre for blind persons in Drumcondra; and the reason this project appears to have lost momentum. [37143/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that revised plans for the National Centre for the Visually Impaired are currently being considered by the Departments of Education and Science and Health and Children. It is important that the plans be given careful consideration from both a health and an education point of view to ensure that they best meet the needs of children and young people with visual impairment into the future.