Is the Department of Education failing children with autism? YES Rita Honansays the department is ignoring the recommendations of its own task force on autism and leaving overburdened parents to fill the gaps NO Mary Hanafinsays the Government has adopted a flexible approach reflecting the lack of consensus on any one approach to autism. Join the debate at www.ireland.com/head2head.
YESThe Department of Education and Science has made significant efforts to make up the deficits in the education of students with autistic spectrum conditions. Many primary school-aged children have benefited substantially and are well served by their special and mainstream teachers, with much goodwill at school level. Some preschool children have received excellent intervention through the department's support of classrooms based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and through other autism-specific programmes. Teachers are afforded opportunities for education on autism and educational support techniques. Some research projects have been funded.
The department, nonetheless, continues to fail these children in numerous ways. At preschool level, the department primarily offers part-time home tuition with a primary teacher, few of whom are available or have relevant training, and who must be sourced by the already overwhelmed parents themselves. Much valuable time is lost and family stress increased during this search and the quality of the subsequent intervention is unpredictable.
Both the initiation and the extent of provision is based on age, in spite of the autism task force's recommendation of intervention "from point of diagnosis", and international literature which consistently recommends intensive early behavioural intervention as the most effective preschool approach.
The money spent in the courts fighting parental choice and professional recommendations could easily have funded a large number of specialist places, from preschool through early primary. The task force report supports full-time ABA education, recognising that ABA incorporates a multitude of scientifically validated strategies, while acknowledging that this level of intensity is not required by all children with autism. A cap has recently been set on the number of places in ABA classes which denies choice and defies recommendations from professionals. Availability of any intervention or class type should be based on assessed need and parental choice.
The department highlights as positive its 10,000 special needs assistants. While such assistants can be a great source of support to teachers and students, they are not trained educators or autism specialists but are often given major teaching responsibilities. A high number of paraprofessionals does not necessarily improve the quality of provision, and, in fact, can reduce the time students receive from teachers. Inclusion is not a place, but rather a process to be carefully crafted and evaluated.
The Minister states that children in autism spectrum disorder classes have fully qualified teachers. Qualifications are limited to primary mainstream training which does not prepare one for the complex and unique challenges of autism. Teachers have "access to additional training in autism-specific approaches". This should be mandatory to meet the department's goal of being "suitably qualified in a variety of approaches". As the Minister stated, there is "a very real risk . . . if teachers are not skilled . .."
The department must recognise that while one might learn approaches like TEACCH (a programme developed in the 1970s) in a one-week course, and PECS (a behavioural strategy) in a workshop, learning about the various conditions on the autistic spectrum and learning to implement ABA requires a substantial investment of time and ongoing supervision and training. Investing in courses on autism has been a great step forward; there is now scope for in-depth training and supervision to ensure expertise in various teaching strategies.
The department is failing many students with Asperger's syndrome by having few resources beyond untrained special needs assistants and time-limited remedial academic sessions. Few teachers address the core deficits such as social communication, thinking and behavioural oddities, as mainstream and remedial teachers aren't typically versed in these matters.
The department is failing in the difficult area of developing secondary school resources for students across the autistic spectrum. The task force recommended "that there be a flexible continuum of educational options for pupils with autism spectrum disorders at second level". Parents find they must source a school, and are often the impetus behind developing programmes along with supportive principals and school staff.
The Minister stated that schools "have received specific advice on how to meet the particular challenges of including children with special needs at post-primary level". Much more than advice is needed. The department is also failing these students in the transition period out of secondary; once again a task falling to parents.
The department and the HSE are failing children with autism by not providing sufficient collateral therapies where they are most needed and most easily delivered, ie in schools.
The department has come a long way, and has a long way to go. I sincerely wish it the best in these demanding endeavours.
Dr Rita Honan is course director of the postgraduate diploma in applied behaviour analysis in TCD and was a member of the 2001 ministerial task force on autism
NOFinding out that your child has a disability is one of the most difficult things any parent could have to deal with. Overnight your hopes and plans for your child's future are replaced by anxiety and fear. I have witnessed firsthand the heartbreak experienced by friends of mine who have had to cope with this news. I know how important it is for them to know from the start that their child will have access to the type of education that will give them the best chance in life.
When I became Minister for Education, I acknowledged that Ireland's record in the area had historically been very poor and that we needed to work harder to ensure that all children could have access to the best educational opportunities.
Since then, investment in special education has doubled - to €900 million this year. Almost 6,000 additional special education teachers and assistants have been put in place, bringing to more than 19,000 the total number of staff working solely with children with special needs. We have more to do, but real improvements have been delivered, making a positive difference to the lives of children and their families.
I have been particularly conscious of the needs of children with autism. In order to prioritise early intervention, up to 20 hours per week of home tuition is now provided for pre-school autistic children.
Those of school-going age now have three distinct educational options open to them: a place in an ordinary class, in a special class in a mainstream school or in a special school.
While many children with autism can thrive in the ordinary classroom, special classes have been designed specifically to meet the needs of children with autism who need greater levels of individualised support. There are now 277 such classes all over the country, with about 100 of these set up in the last year alone.
There is a maximum of six children in each class with at least three adults. One-to-one support is available as needed. But there is also an emphasis on group work as appropriate.
Parents of children in special classes have told me of how they never thought their child would be able to sit calmly in a group and learn alongside others, and yet with careful support they have been able to do just that.
Children in these special classes also benefit from having fully qualified teachers that have access to training in a range of interventions, including applied behavioural analysis. My department has established a support team, led by a person with a PhD in ABA, to provide training for teachers in this method, and ABA consultancy grants have also been provided to schools.
I have seen ABA in use in special classes and in one of the pilot ABA centres. I believe that it has an important role to play in the education of children with autism and my department will ensure that children who benefit from ABA are taught through it.
However, I am familiar with the findings of influential reports that show that children should have access to a range of teaching approaches, rather than just one.
I am also aware that autism support groups in other countries, such as the UK, Canada and America, share this view.
My department's policy reflects the fact that there is no consensus amongst autism professionals on one approach being the most effective. The fact that experts on all sides can cite peer-reviewed research to support different positions underlines this lack of consensus.
It has been claimed that the 13-member task force on autism found ABA to be superior to other interventions. This is not true. In fact, the very first conclusion in their report says that "there is no definitive evidence that supports one approach as being better than others for all children with ASDs [ autism spectrum disorders], or supports a single approach for all aspects of development; nor is there any evidence by which children could be matched to particular approaches".
Individual members of the task force may have a different view, but that was the finding of the group as a whole.
It has also been claimed that up to half of children who have had early intensive ABA can be successfully mainstreamed into ordinary classes without extra supports. There is no conclusive evidence of this internationally. Neither is it borne out by the experience of Irish children who have moved to mainstream education from the pilot ABA centres. Typically, these children need to be supported with resource teaching hours and/or special needs assistants.
Autism is not yet fully understood as a condition, and new research is emerging all the time.
The Department of Education is keeping on top of developments in research and best practice to ensure that our education system evolves and can incorporate new practices that may be proven to be effective in the future.
This is made possible by providing an education system that offers flexibility rather than commitment to just one approach. The Government is committed to ensuring that all children can benefit from an education that is appropriate to their individual needs and abilities.
Mary Hanafin TD is Minister for Education and Science
Last week Cari Mitchell and Kathleen Fahy debated the question: Should the laws against prostitution be abolished? Here is an edited selection of your comments:
One argument for legalising prostitution in the Netherlands was that legalisation would help end the exploitation of desperate immigrant women trafficked for prostitution. A report done for the governmental Budapest Group stated that 80 per cent of women in the brothels in the Netherlands are trafficked from other countries. The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International has conducted two major studies on sex trafficking and prostitution. Women in prostitution indicated that prostitution establishments did little to protect them, regardless of whether they were in legal or illegal establishments. The only time they protect anyone is to protect the customers.
Michael O'Driscoll, Ireland
Cari Mitchell admits that the 2006 British Home Office review recognised that poverty, debt, low wages, rape, domestic violence, homelessness and drug use drive people into prostitution - so why legalise something which desperate women and boys feel forced into?
Jill Nesbitt, Ireland
I support Cari in her call for sex work to be decriminalised. There is also a second global anti-trafficking network, the Global Alliance Against Trafficking Women, who recognise that trafficking is not the same as prostitution. As a former sex worker (and I was never "desperate" or "forced" into prostitution), I support the recognition of sex work as labour and the protection of the human rights of sex workers. I reject the infantilisation of women involved in prostitution, where we are depicted as incompetent and unable to make up our own minds about consensual sex.
Ruth, United Kingdom
Kathleen Fahy's argument consists of mere factually incorrect assertions about legal sex markets. In the Netherlands, women queue up to join a profession that pays some of the highest wages of any. In my view, it's paying customers who are taken for a ride. Other problems she cites - drug use among prostitutes, violence, trafficking and pimping - are direct consequences of working in a black market.
Kevin Lynch, Ireland
Decriminalising prostitution would be a major violation of the human rights of thousands of women and children across the world. It is an acceptance that selling and trafficking human beings is a legitimate economic activity rather than the dirty exploitative business that it is.
Noreen Byrne, Ireland
Not alone should the law be abolished, but prostitution should be legalised and placed on a regulatory footing. Mandatory health checks, tax returns and all the other regulatory requirements for a commercial business should be enforced.
This would ensure that nobody operates under duress and no sob stories would emanate from what is essentially a sordid, but hugely profitable, sleaze industry.
Denis O'Sullivan, Ireland