Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Substantial progress continues to be made in changing Department policy towards a more needs based response for children with special educational needs. This change is manifested in a number of special policy initiatives now underway. Such a policy has many benefits for schools, children and parents. Central to the change is that a diagnosis of a disability is not now needed by pupils in mainstream classes to access much needed supports. This represents 98% of children who are in need of additional supports in the schools.

A new model for allocating special education teachers to mainstream schools was introduced with effect from September 2017.

Under the new model, assessment, or diagnosis of a particular condition is no longer necessary for pupils to access educational teaching resources in schools, nor is there now a requirement for schools to submit assessments annually in order to apply for additional teaching resources.

This has helped to end delays in allocations. Pupils need no longer experience delays in receiving reports which could, in the past, deny a child access to necessary learning supports.

Schools may allocate additional teaching support to pupils where it has identified learning needs using school based assessment or the Continuum of Support and the Guidelines provided to schools. Schools can also draw on professional reports where available.

Medical and other professional assessments may continue to be used to help explain, and provide a better understanding of a child’s needs, the nature of difficulties, and to inform relevant interventions. They are not however, a requirement for the provision of additional teaching support.

Since April 2020, a child no longer requires an assessed disability to require or qualify for access to SNA (Special Needs Assistant) support. A new model for allocating SNAs to schools is also being developed. This model will also not require children to have a diagnosis of a particular disability in order to access services and assessments for individual children were not required to be submitted for the 2022/23 school year.

The criteria for accessing Reasonable Accommodations at State Exams and Irish Exemptions are also now needs based and not requiring assessment of disability.

Whereas an assessment of a particular disability is still a requirement for access to special schools and classes, it is not necessary that this assessment be undertaken through the Assessment of Needs (AON) process and children who receive their assessment through the AON process are not given prioritised for service.

The development over the coming period of the School Inclusion Model which introduces therapy into schools will be another milestone in the change to a needs based approach.