Ireland - Nonesense in Autism Education Provision
Following numerous High Court proceedings (in many of which I had direct involvement) brought by parents of children with autism the Department of Education and Science decided to establish special classes, sometimes called "units" in mainstream schools for children on the spectrum.
Most of these units were established in the late 90's and early in 2000.
Today these units continue to provide education and supportive services for children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD's).
Sounds good doesn't it? Well, some of it is good, but a lot of it is the usual haze of half-truth, misrepresentation and outright lies in educational provision here in Ireland.
Let's us take an example of what is happening around the country at the present time.
Some, and they are few, secondary schools are now establishing classes for adolescents with ASD.
The establishment of these classes typically follows a series of parental battles which often culminate in High Court cases of Section 20 appeals.
(Section 29 is a part of the Education Act which permits parents to take a case against a school for failure to admit a child or alleging wrongful suspension or expulsion.
So there are few schools that can raise their head high and proclaim a great desire to establish these classes.
Upon agreeing to open a class the school will begin the admission process which follows a rather unique guideline established by some sectors of the autism service continuum in Ireland.
This guideline typically specifies that no child on the spectrum who has intellectual impairment (a General Learning Disability, meaning significantly sub-average IQ) will be enrolled in the class.
This little clause means that up to 85% of adolescents on the spectrum will be denied admission to a unit which purports to specialise in their education.
Even more diabolically, the service provider who established this clause makes it clear they will not provide any supportive service (speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, psychological services) to a student with a GLD.
Schools use this escape clause with surgical precision in denying access to the classes supposed to be specialised in education children on the spectrum.
In some cases schools actually use outdated and meaningless terminology to exclude students (more will be written about this later).
Let's call a spade a spade shall we? Some school administrators, under the encouragement of the Boards of Management, don't want some children with and ASD in their classes.
They will use any means necessary to refuse them and the best excuse available to them is the GLD escape clause.
Most of these units were established in the late 90's and early in 2000.
Today these units continue to provide education and supportive services for children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD's).
Sounds good doesn't it? Well, some of it is good, but a lot of it is the usual haze of half-truth, misrepresentation and outright lies in educational provision here in Ireland.
Let's us take an example of what is happening around the country at the present time.
Some, and they are few, secondary schools are now establishing classes for adolescents with ASD.
The establishment of these classes typically follows a series of parental battles which often culminate in High Court cases of Section 20 appeals.
(Section 29 is a part of the Education Act which permits parents to take a case against a school for failure to admit a child or alleging wrongful suspension or expulsion.
So there are few schools that can raise their head high and proclaim a great desire to establish these classes.
Upon agreeing to open a class the school will begin the admission process which follows a rather unique guideline established by some sectors of the autism service continuum in Ireland.
This guideline typically specifies that no child on the spectrum who has intellectual impairment (a General Learning Disability, meaning significantly sub-average IQ) will be enrolled in the class.
This little clause means that up to 85% of adolescents on the spectrum will be denied admission to a unit which purports to specialise in their education.
Even more diabolically, the service provider who established this clause makes it clear they will not provide any supportive service (speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, psychological services) to a student with a GLD.
Schools use this escape clause with surgical precision in denying access to the classes supposed to be specialised in education children on the spectrum.
In some cases schools actually use outdated and meaningless terminology to exclude students (more will be written about this later).
Let's call a spade a spade shall we? Some school administrators, under the encouragement of the Boards of Management, don't want some children with and ASD in their classes.
They will use any means necessary to refuse them and the best excuse available to them is the GLD escape clause.
Source...