Campaigners to outline to TDs impact of removing essential therapies at special schools
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Students at special schools around the country are not getting the full education they deserve due to the removal of essential, in-school therapeutic support, according to parents and school staff.
The detrimental impact removing access to essential therapies through special schools has had on the students’ education is to be raised at Leinster House.
A group of parents, teachers, special needs assistants and principals campaigning to reinstate therapists at all special schools are to meet TDs this Wednesday.
The alliance includes representatives from St Killian’s Special School in Mayfield, Cork City. Last week, the HSE confirmed it has approved €40,000 to fund private therapists at the school.
It followed relentless campaigning by parents and staff to secure a system of therapists which the school has gone without since 2020. The move has been welcomed as a short-term fix, but the special school is continuing to advocate for a permanent solution to be put in place.
Nationally, in-schools’ access to speech and language, occupational and behavioral therapists was first curtailed following the roll-out of Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs).
Caroline Kelly is the deputy principal at the Offaly School of Special Education. The school has seen a dramatic reduction in regular visits from therapists following the introduction of CDNTs.
Ms Kelly said:
"They are the ones who are suffering at the end of the day.”
The link between the ability to access in-school support for cognitively impaired children and accessing education will be highlighted to TDs attending the briefing on Wednesday.
“There definitely is a link, and that I don’t think can be questioned,” said Orlaith Kerrigan, a parent representative from Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise.
“We will also be going through examples of how not having therapy impacts on the education of children with intellectual disabilities.
“We will also be highlighting how they can help get therapists back into special schools, and that’s through, what we can see at the moment, lobbying the HSE.”
Children with cognitive impairments have a level of dysregulation, Ms Kerrigan said.
“That could be sensory. The environment around you may be too bright, too light, too quiet. You need to move a lot. There could also be an anxiety around not communicating through speech, you’re not able to get your meaning across. If you are trying to overcome all this, you need therapeutic input.
“Before they can sit down and learn, they have to be regulated in themselves.”
A spokesperson for the HSE said it is sorry for those families who have had a poor experience in trying to access services through CDNTs.
There are "significant challenges" for CDNTs, they added. These include significant staffing vacancies, the growth in numbers of children with complex needs, and an increasing rate of referrals.
There has also been a growth in demand for Assessment of Needs, which has diverted resources away from interventions. "The HSE is also working on additional recruitment and retention measures for the teams."