Saying no to special needs?

While Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe insists all children with special needs will be cared for, parents and teachers are nervous about job cuts among special needs assistants

OVER 1,000 POSTS as special needs assistants (SNAs) are set to be abolished as part of a Department of Education review. Some have already lost their jobs. Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe insists all children with special needs will be looked after. But parents and teachers are apprehensive.

“If I want to apply for a special needs assistant on behalf of a child in my school, I have to get reports from doctors, occupational therapists, psychologists – all kinds of experts – in order for the child to qualify,” says John O’Donovan, principal of the Patrician BNS in Newbridge, Co Kildare. “Now after getting all of those expert opinions, a special education needs officer can come into the school, observe the same child for half an hour and decide, based on that observation, that the child doesn’t need the help that has been recommended. How is that right?”

O’Donovan is at his wits end. Last October, his school was subject to a review of its SNAs. “We had four SNAs,” O’Donovan says. “Every one of them was needed and I was actually expecting to get another, if not two more this year. We hadn’t lost any of our special needs children and more had entered the school in September.”

Instead, much to O’Donovan’s dismay, the school lost one full-time and one part-time SNA in the review. “We have more children to support, and just over half of the SNA hours that we had last year,” O’Donovan says. “It is very discouraging.”

SNAs have become familiar faces in schools around the country. There are over 10,000 SNAs in primary, second level and special schools. If a child has a significant disability, a medical need or a severe behavioural problem, he or she may qualify for SNA hours.

The job of the SNA is not to teach the child but rather to enable a child to access the curriculum. In the case of a child with a physical disability, this might entail helping them with mobility or accessing books and pencils.

For a child with a behavioural problem, the SNA will try to anticipate and defuse potentially problematic situations on a daily basis. They might have to remove the child from the class for short stretches for example.

The number of SNAs has increased dramatically in recent years. At primary level, SNA numbers are up by 73 per cent between 2003 and 2008 from 4,900 to 8,400. At post-primary, the increase over the same period was from 443 to more than 2,000.

The increase looks impressive but it comes after generations of non-investment in special needs. It also reflects how parents moved to vindicate their own rights – sometimes after lengthy court battles.

Parents have not just become more aware of their rights. They also know it is the Department of Education’s responsibility to provide a decent and appropriate education for their child.

But the Department is waging its own war on spending. And to the dismay of many, special needs children may become part of the collateral damage. Under pressure from the Department of Finance, the Department of Education is reviewing every SNA post in every school.

Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said the review is designed to identify “surplus posts, which do not meet the current criteria – posts that have been retained when a pupil’s care needs have diminished or where the pupil has left.”

The review is being conducted by the National Council for Special Education, a Department of Education body which the Minister says provides impartial and independent advice.

Here’s how the review is working. A special educational needs organiser (SENO) visits a school, reviews children’s files, observes children and talks to parents, teachers and SNAs. The SENO decides whether the children’s needs have remained constant or whether the SNA hours should be cut.

Impact, the union representing SNAs, says more than 1,000 jobs will be lost. The Department disputes this figure – but it is very slow to spell out just how many jobs will go.

Although parents have been assured that the special needs of children will continue to be met, some claim that this has not been the case. “My child made huge progress with his full-time SNA,” says one parent who didn’t want to be named.

“He’s on the autistic spectrum and he has been doing well in school. At the review we were told his hours wouldn’t be touched but in September they were halved. By October, this was presenting real problems for the teacher. There are discipline issues in the classroom now and he’s more angry at home. He doesn’t have a physical dependency but he really needs the support in the classroom.”

Gerardine Reilly’s son has multiple disabilities and his hours have also been reduced. “We wouldn’t apply for an SNA if my son didn’t need one,” she says. “There isn’t a parent in the world who wants their child to need that kind of support. If my son didn’t have SNA support I’d wonder whether mainstream would be the place for him at all. We put forward his best case and his hours were still reduced. You get tired of fighting sometimes.”

“It’s scandalous,” says Patricia Treacy, principal of St Patrick’s BNS in Fethard, Co Tipperary. “There isn’t a single SNA between the two national schools in Fethard now.”

Treacy’s school lost one full-time and one part-time SNA in the review while the other school in the town also had its SNA hours withdrawn. “There are 200 children between the two primary schools – are they saying that we have no children with special needs,” Treacy asks.

“As principals, we spend a huge amount of time scavenging for resources and special needs hours for pupils,” says Miriam Mulkerrin, principal of St Louis Infant School in Rathmines. “Scavenging is the only word for it. The SENOs are fast becoming known as the ‘say nos’ in educational circles, because ‘no’ is the response you’re most likely to hear from them.” Mulkerrin’s school lost one of its five SNAs.

Teacher Aoife Finlay has a class of 30 sixth-class students in the Patrician BNS in Newbridge. Two children in her class had SNA hours cut drastically. “It has hit me hard,” she says. “I find I can’t teach the full curriculum to the class. It impinges not only on the children with special needs but also on the 28 other children. Appropriate support for children with special needs is an educational right. Take away grants, books, whatever you like, but don’t take away that basic right.”

“SNAs are not handed out like lollipops,” says Mulkerrin. “The criteria are stringently applied. Rightly so, but our four SNAs are stretched beyond belief now. We have an obligation to provide an appropriate education for our children with special needs but without the proper resources it is very frustrating.”

The SNA review is due to be completed at the end of March.

Special needs assistants what is their role?

The SNA

- PAULA KELLYis a special needs assistant in St Louis Infant School in Rathmines. She assists six-year-old Claudia Scanlan

“You have a very specific role as a special needs assistant. It’s not a teaching role – the care of the child is your responsibility. You’re basically there as an enabler – enabling the child to access the curriculum. The range of difficulties you encounter varies from year to year.

“Some children need help with toileting. Others need medical intervention throughout the school day. Others might have emotional or behavioural problems. Some might have receptive language difficulties and you have to interpret what the teacher is saying for them.

“If a child has behavioural difficulties you might need to take them out of the classroom to calm them down and defuse a situation. One little chap I assisted some years ago just wanted to leave school and run home all the time. I had to watch him like a hawk. So many of these children couldn’t access education without assistance – I can’t leave Claudia, the little girl I assist now. I help her with everything – to sit down, to stand up. The teacher simply can’t do that for one child, but these children deserve a chance to be educated with their peers. They really do.

“Your aim is to enable a child to operate independently. You can’t do everything for them. It requires enormous patience and you really need to love working with children. Since we lost an SNA in this school, the rest of us are run ragged. Each SNA’s role is different but you have to be flexible. I’m with Claudia full-time but if another SNA is managing a behavioural situation or helping another child with medication or something, they can’t just abandon one child and help another. That’s probably where we’re feeling the pinch most. It becomes a health and safety issue at times.”

The Parent

- LIZ SCANLONis the mother of six-year-old Claudia Scanlon

“I was terrified when Claudia was starting school. She has a very rare condition called epidermolysis bullosa which causes her skin to blister at the smallest touch.

“She’s articulate and bright but if she didn’t have an SNA she wouldn’t be in mainstream school. Her SNA last year was Barbara but she was let go because of the review. I was nervous of starting over with someone new but Paula’s fantastic. I leave the school gate every morning knowing that Claudia’s going to be looked after.

“There’s great communication between us and the school. It makes such a difference because letting her go initially was very, very hard. She has such a specialised need. For us, trust is everything and it is so important that Claudia gets to live a normal life. Schooling is part of life.

“We went to a lot of schools before finding St Louis. They were fantastic. There was no negativity about Claudia’s special needs at all. They are constantly thinking of ways to help her.

“I just think that schools should be rewarded for that attitude. It’s a child’s right to go to mainstream school. Getting the proper support and resources shouldn’t be such a struggle.”