Special Educational Needs

Today, I speak to the Minister of State about the need for expansion and reform of our approach to dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia of speech and the other associated difficulties around literacy for children in our schools in particular. As the Minister of State knows and as I have discussed with him on many occasions, this is something that is very important to me but also something that affects 10% of our population, which is the percentage perceived to have dyslexia, notwithstanding the other difficulties with dyspraxia and apraxia of speech as well. Ultimately, access to the curriculum, participation in school and participation in the school community that the Minister of State referred to in the previous answer is all predicated on being able to read, write and use the tools that are provided in our schools. The Minister of State and I have met many groups from up and down my constituency and further afield where they point to the how the purpose of this area of policy and our approach to policy not only need review, but reform. The international evidence shows that there is no substitute for a systematic, highly focused, outcome-focused intervention over a number of years in a separate setting to assist those with dyslexia and ensure they are not locked out of the curriculum. We have made huge strides in this country and the Minister of State has been the reason for a large part of that in rolling out the number of special classes we have available for students with autism. What I am proposing today is that we now look at that same model for how we approach allowing people to participate fully in the curriculum and take account of their speech and language difficulties. I appreciate the investment there has been in special education teaching over the last number of years and also the efforts that individual schools have made to assist those with dyslexia in their school populations, but there is massive variation across schools. There is massive variability in how this is interpreted and we need a cohesive and standardised approach, similar to what we have done for children with autism. The fact that brings this into focus for me is that if we look at the populations in our prisons and at our populations who are at risk and are marginal, the prevalence of dyslexia, dyspraxia and apraxia of speech among is particularly high. That in and of itself tells me a story. The people who feel they have been locked out of the curriculum feel like they have been locked out of society as well. The evidence points to a very effective solution here, which is that systematic, outcome-focused approach through a reading class or a reading school, which have been shown to be extremely successful in this country. All I am asking today is that we consider reform of this entire area, that we would look at the experience of groups like Finding Charlie's Voice, and Crack the Code, which have taken a very proactive and evidence-based approach to identifying what we need to do in this area to avoid the variation across schools. I am not casting aspersions on the work that teachers do because there are very committed teachers in this space. It is about making sure we have a time-limited outcome and that, after this intervention to assist those with dyslexia takes place, they are able to go on, participate in the mainstream curriculum and achieve their potential. That is the ask I am putting to the Minister of State today. Reading classes are not the only part of that toolbox. There is also the question of ensuring that initial teacher training at our teacher training colleges provides teachers with the tools to quickly screen and identify dyslexia, dyspraxia and apraxia of speech so that they know how to signpost to the particular services that are needed, and to make it easy for principals and special education teachers to refer those children who need help to reading classes. The first step here is for us to think about how we approach dyslexia in our schools and how we learn from what we have done successfully in the field of autism and apply that same model to the field of dyslexia.

I thank the Deputy for the question. We have discussed this issue and he has raised it a number of times with me. I have met a number of stakeholders to discuss how our schools support children with dyslexia, including experts in the field, teachers, parents and advocacy groups, such as the likes of Dyslexia Ireland and the Crack the Code group, which I met with Deputy Moynihan before the summer. As he knows, the majority of students with literacy difficulties currently receive additional teaching supports from a specialised education teacher in mainstream classrooms. The Department of Education and Youth has invested considerably in this space, with 15,200 special education teachers allocated to primary and post-primary schools to enable them to support children with additional needs, including students with literacy difficulties. Funding is also made available to schools for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers or software to assist children where relevant professionals recommend the equipment as being essential for the provision of education. In addition, there are four schools dedicated to supporting students with specific learning disabilities, SLDs. There are also 14 SLD classes in 11 mainstream primary schools located across the country, in counties Dublin, Clare, Louth, Galway, Kerry and Wexford. As the Deputy knows, these settings have a student-teacher ratio of 1:9 and are attended by students normally aged between the ages of eight and 12 years for a maximum of two years. Students will also have a diagnosis of dyslexia and a score at the 2% percentile, or lower, on literacy standardised tests. They will also have an average or above average level of intelligence. In addition, the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, offers a national programme of support, which includes national webinars that have been consistently highly attended. All of these supports are important and do support children with dyslexia. From what I am told by front-line staff, however, is that in some instances further supports are required. Specialised education teachers are an important part of the network of supports but, equally, will not be the solution in all cases. This is something of which I am very much aware and needs to be carefully considered by me as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. What I am clear on at this stage is how we support children with dyslexia and additional literacy needs is an area in which we need to see reform. We cannot continue with the status quo and there needs to be a change. I have discussed this issue with the inspectorate and will be engaging with it further, as well as with officials in my Department and, indeed, with several organisations and advocacy groups. We must all work collectively to ensure we have the best policy in place so that the outcomes for children are the best they can be.

I particularly thank the Minister for State for his acknowledgement of the need for reform in this area. That is a very welcome statement by him because I know of his personal interest in this matter and his personal commitment to the whole area of special education. I emphasise again that I am not doing down the amazing work that is done by front-line staff in our area but it is about making sure that the full gamut of tools is available to all those who are in area of dyslexia and assisting those with dyslexia. When I think of children who have severe dyslexia and the effective models the Minister of State has outlined in his reply around the reading schools and reading classes we have in place, we have a model in a box that we could roll out to other schools around the country. I know from having spoken to principals and teachers in my constituency that there is a willingness and an appetite to see these in place. They are little different from autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes, in that it is a two-year programme of support that unlocks so much for the children who require this care. There is a willingness to learn about the approaches that are taken by groups like Crack the Code to the use of structural literacy to ensure our teacher training programmes reflect the need to make sure teachers feel equipped to identify dyslexia very early on, as well as by groups like Finding Charlie's Voice, which speaks about the co-occurrence of conditions such as autism, dyspraxia and dyslexia, to make sure our reading classes and the approach we take ensure that those with speech, communication and language difficulties are able to fully participate in the curriculum. The Minister of State quite rightly stated that inclusivity needed to be at the heart of our education system. Reading classes are a key way to enable that inclusivity because they provide tailored and strong support and allow those children to participate in mainstream education. I look forward to working with the Minister of State on this. I thank him for his support on it, for meeting the various groups, and for his willingness to look at the reform that is needed to move forward.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department continues to engage intensely with the NCSE in relation to forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best fitted to their educational need. No policy position can be static and needs to evolve alongside the student population and the needs presenting. If we look back since the foundation of the State, education has constantly being evolving. There have been major movements along the way but it has constantly been evolving, as it has the world over as well. As mentioned, how we support children with dyslexia and additional literacy needs is an area that needs reform and I am engaging with officials on what this reform looks like. I will be advancing this as quickly as possible. I am also working on a new measure that will see the provision of enhanced supports in mainstream schools for students experiencing literacy difficulties. I hope over the next while that we will be able to update the House accordingly. I thank the Deputy for his commitment to this matter and for the meetings he has had with the various advocacy groups. I take very seriously the concerns they have - not just his groups', but also the concerns of others we have met across the country, along with other parents and school authorities - in relation to dyslexia and how we need to look at it into the future. We are looking at reform and how best we can meet the needs because every cent that is spent on special education will have enormous benefit for the child, their families and the State.