At least 1,000 students denied access to exam supports

At least 1,000 students with a range of special needs – including dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism and Asperger's – have been denied access to Leaving Certificate exam supports from the State Examinations Commission (SEC), new figures show.

The data was released to Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming.

The parents of 61 children with disabilities complained to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) last year after their children were refused exam supports under the “reasonable accommodation” scheme last year.

Calling for a review of the scheme, Ann Heelan, executive director of the Association for Higher Education and Disability (Ahead) said the SEC's view on what constituted a reasonable accommodation for a student with a disability was "not up-to-date with modern technology".

She highlighted instances where applications for readers, scribes or other supports such as the use of laptops were rejected just days before the exams began.

Lack of clarity

About 20 parents approached Ahead for assistance this year, including the parent of a diabetic child who had asked for a separate exam centre so she did not have to inject herself in front of classmates, and so she could eat food needed to keep her energy levels balanced. Her application was refused.

Ms Heelan, along with the principal of a school in Munster who asked not to be named, said there was a lack of clarity on what was required of parents. “There’s a lack of openness and transparency,” said the principal. She highlighted instances where the SEC asked for occupational therapy or educational psychology reports only to reject the advice of professionals.

In a statement, the SEC said the application process for the Leaving Certificate “recognises the more high-stakes nature of the examination” and that “decisions in relation to applications for reasonable accommodations are taken having regard to the circumstances of each individual case”.

If a student was unable to write, or effectively unable to write, they might be allowed the service of a scribe or the use of an aid such as a tape recorder, typewriter or word processor, but that they were not automatically entitled to one.

The SEC granted 19,502 requests for reasonable accommodations in 2014. A spokesperson for the SEC said they were unable to provide the information on the number of applications rejected last year.

However, one informed source believes up to half of all applications may be rejected.

Parents’ stories

AOIFE “My daughter has dyspraxia, dyslexia and scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. We applied for a laptop. Her handwriting is not legible and it causes her pain to write. The SEC rejected the report of an occupational therapist and asked my daughter to do a handwriting test in school.

“They said that because they judged her handwriting legible they were rejecting her application for support. But it was a short test, and it doesn’t take into account that days of writing would be impossible for her. They rejected our appeal as well. They never explained why.

“The intervention of the OCO has been critical. The SEC have now agreed to provide what they should have provided all along. But it’s been so stressful for us as a family. There’s no information for parents of children with disabilities. It’s a constant battle.”

RÓISÍN “My son requested the use of a laptop because of his poor handwriting. Our application was supported by an occupational therapy report. It was rejected. No reason was given.

“I put in an appeal with new evidence which showed that my son is in the fourth lowest percentile in terms of handwriting ability. The appeal was turned down.

“My son is despondent and worried that he is at such a disadvantage for the exam now. He wants to go to university. He deserves that chance.

“The biggest injustice is the length of time it took for them to issue the decision. If we’d known in January, we could have prepared. But we didn’t get the result of the final appeal until May.”

LAURA “My son has dyspraxia, Asperger’s and sensory integration dysfunction. He’s been using a laptop for school work since second year. His application for a speech to text programme and a scribe was turned down.

“We applied in March 2014 and didn’t hear back until March 2015, when we were rejected. I’m told there is a huge backlog of cases. After much fighting and advocating, and two rejections, for which no explanation was offered, he was granted some support because I put pressure on the SEC.

“It shouldn’t come down to this: that the parents who can put up the biggest fight gets what their child need. It shouldn’t have to be so difficult. I’m studying in college at the moment, but for most parents this is too much to take on. There is no transparency.”