The co-author of a Government taskforce report on autism has accused the Minister for Education of following a "grossly misguided" policy on education for autistic children which is not backed up by any scientific evidence.
Dr Rita Honan of Trinity College Dublin said the Minister's policy of not providing funding for additional Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) classes meant many autistic children were missing out on the best chance of leading a normalised and productive life.
International research for the past 40 years showed that up to half of children who engage in ABA as their primary method of pre-school intervention go on to mainstream education without any additional supports, Dr Honan said.
Ms Hanafin has said the Government favours an "eclectic" approach based on the conclusions of the taskforce which state that a range of educational approaches should be offered to children, including ABA.
Ms Hanafin said new classes specialising in ABA are not being funded for a number of reasons, including the lack of teaching qualifications among tutors and because ABA focuses only on teaching behaviour.
However, in a statement to The Irish Times, Dr Honan said the Minister's stance was marked by a number of errors and a misunderstanding of ABA.
"Minister Hanafin still hasn't sufficiently educated herself in the various methods of educational intervention for children with autism. She consistently makes very basic errors when referring to Applied Behaviour Analysis," Dr Honan said.
"If she read anything about this approach and/or visited any classroom which follows this as its primary methodology, it would be clear to her that this theoretical orientation is utilised to teach children not only basic learning behaviours required to learn, but also language/speech - a prime component of early intensive behavioural intervention; self-care, daily living and leisure skills; social communication; and routine pre-school academics and for the older children, the national curriculum."
Dr Honan said the taskforce report listed ABA as the first and most effective educational approach and placed an emphasis on options for parents. She also rejected allegations that ABA represented a single approach to teaching autistic children.
"Once again, should the Minister familiarise herself with any one of these classrooms, she would see that the Teacch [ Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children] and Pecs [ Picture Exchange Communication System] system is heavily utilised per the child's needs and all other interventions that emerge in the field are closely evaluated and - where supported by scientific evidence - incorporated into classrooms."
Dr Honan said the policy of insisting that staff teaching autistic children should have a three-year teaching degree was "grossly misguided". She said this qualification means many teachers do not have the knowledge and special skills needed to work with autistic children.
Dr Honan said many ABA tutors - who were not regarded as qualified in the eyes of the department - had four-year degrees in areas such as psychology and high levels of ABA and autism-specific training.
Meanwhile, in the Dáil yesterday Taoiseach Bertie Ahern insisted the Government's policy did not mean there were no new ABA places. He said: "New ABA centres have not been approved in recent years because a network of special classes is now available. Consequently, it is not that the Minister is opposed to extending them but rather a range of special classes now exists."