Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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422. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the services available for children with dyslexia, specifically in respect of audio textbooks, which have been proven to be of help but are not currently available from his Department. [1400/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a range of resources for pupils with Specific Learning Disabilities, of which Dyslexia is one such SLD.

All mainstream schools have been allocated additional teaching resources to cater for children with SLD, either under the General Allocation Model at primary school level, or through High Incidence and learning support allocations for post primary schools.

Schools have access to psychological assessments through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA).

While the use of audio text books may be appropriate for some children with special educational needs, over reliance on their use for children with dyslexia is considered inappropriate. Children with severe dyslexia present with audio-processing difficulties and therefore, the Department recommends the use of a range of IT-based solutions which are designed to offer support for students in addressing those difficulties.

Further resources provided to schools to support pupils with dyslexia include:

- Funding for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers and/or software to assist children with special educational needs, including children with SLDs, where relevant professionals recommend the equipment as being essential for the provision of education. Schools apply to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) for such support.

- Special arrangements at state exams.

- Additional training for teachers who support children with dyslexia, through the Special Education Support Service (SESS).

- An information resource pack on Dyslexia in CD-Rom, DVD and video format, has been developed by the Department in association with the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. This product has been made available to all primary and post-primary schools. The DVD and video provides support for parents of pupils with dyslexia while the CD-Rom assists teachers who are teaching children with dyslexia in the mainstream classroom.