Nearly one-fifth of Irish children have special needs

There are 190,303 children  in Ireland who have special needs requirements, according to estimates published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). That is nearly one-fifth of all Irish children.

These figures are contained in an implementation report on the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 that the NCSE submitted to government in October. The act provides that, if necessary, children should be assessed for special needs by the NCSE or the health board and then given a special education plan.
The act established the NCSE, and it was required to submit an implementation report to the government by October 2006.

Contained in the implementation plan are estimates of the number of children with special education needs, as defined under the act. It estimates that 190,303 children in Ireland have special education needs – 18 per cent of all children.

Over 13,000 have a physical or sensory disability; 20,000 have an intellectual disability; 64,000 have learning disabilities; 86,000 have mental health difficulties and 6,000 have autism spectrum disorders. These estimates are higher than existing figures.

The aim of the act was that all elements would be implemented within a five-year timeframe of its establishment.

Already there is a significant unmet demand for assessments. There are 956 children on the early intervention waiting list awaiting assessment. Over 2,800 school-age children are awaiting assessment and 19,000 speech and language therapy.

In the implementation plan, the NCSE set out a timeframe and budget to address the main gaps and deficits in the current system. The NCSE says that €397m is needed to address these gaps and deficits over the next five years.

It says that pre-school provision is “significantly behind what is needed”. There is “insufficient training and development at all levels – schools teachers supports professional etc” in relation to special needs.

Most importantly, the NCSE is critical of the current assessment model used for assessing children with special needs. “Assessment is not delivered when needed, is overly linked to resource considerations, and is dependent on questionable labelling and catergorisation of children with SEN [special education needs].”

They estimate that €45m is needed for pre-school provision and €49m for training and development.

Emma Browne