Limits to therapy for special needs children criticised

Disability groups have criticised official Department of Education guidelines which limit the level of therapy a psychologist may recommend for a special needs child.

The Hope Project, which campaigns on behalf of disabled children and their parents, says, for instance, the cap means a child in need of up to 20 hours of one-to-one resource teaching will only get five hours.

The Department of Education yesterday defended the guidelines by saying there had been a substantial increase in the amount of resources in recent years and that guidelines were flexible depending on classroom situations.

"If you don't have guidelines and have different approaches, then you don't necessarily get any kind of consistency," a Department spokesman said.

"One to one, for example, might not be best for a child. Three children could benefit from 15 hours of combined resource teaching, rather than just five on their own."

The guidelines have been in place since last year, the spokesman added. The Hope Project says it has received many complaints from parents over the capping of services and its effects on special needs children.

One of the callers, Ms Margarita Brennan of Edenderry, Co Offaly said her six-year-old autistic son, Christian, had been assessed as needing 15 hours of resources teaching by a team of health board specialists. However, he was receiving just five hours under the official Department guidelines. "If he doesn't get the resource teaching he needs, he'll just fall back. When he gets into a new level, he won't be able to catch up," she said.

"Early intervention is very important, because that's when habits set in. Without this, his performance in school and participation might deteriorate."

The Department points out that services for special needs children have improved dramatically since 1998. "We've had a very positive response from teachers and schools. In 1998 there just 104 resource teachers, now we have 2,500. The number of special needs assistants has increased from under 300 to 5,500. In all we have 10,000 people dealing with special needs issues, compared to less than a thousand a few years ago," a Department spokesman said.

The spokesman said the arrangements would also give more certainty over the provision of services to children by ensuring that a child continues to receive the same resources if they move school.

The Hope Project said the guidelines were designed to save the Department's budget rather than serve the child's needs.

It has also made a formal complaint about the measures to the Psychological Society of Ireland over the guidelines which, it says, could "erode" the trust which the profession has enjoyed.

"We urge you to defend children being assessed and your own psychologist from departmental interference," a letter from the Hope Project's chairperson, Ms Kathy Sinnott, states.