Special needs children are hit hard by cutbacks

Special needs children are hit hard by cutbacks

30 November 2016

DYSLEXIC children have “no chance” of being diagnosed at primary school as principals struggle to cater for children with special needs.

Most primary schools in the East Down area are given the resources to refer just one child for special needs assessment every year, meaning those with milder learning difficulties including dyslexia, dyscalculia and some forms of autism, will never be prioritised.

That is the warning of local principal, Jason Milligan, chairman of a group of local principals taking a stand against the Education Authority over budgets they say pose a particular threat to stretched special needs provision.

Mr Milligan said small and medium sized primaries are typically allocated 14 hours per year for an educational psychologist to carry out special needs assessments.

With average assessments in the former South Eastern region taking 10-12 hours last year, he said this meant only one child per school per year typically had the opportunity for referral.

He said this meant principals were left with the difficult responsibility of choosing who is most at need.

“More and more children are coming to school with learning difficulties, speech and language difficulties in particular have gone through the roof, as have ADHD and ADD,” he said.

“All of these things are being presented in practically every mainstream school and schools are having to decide which one child they will allocate to assessment.

“You are looking at one child per year because of the finances and bureaucracy of the South Eastern region of the Education Authority.

“As principals we are not qualified to decide which child’s needs are greater than the others.

“We have asked for criteria we could apply when making a referral and choosing which child to refer but that has not been forthcoming, it is left up to us to choose.

“Parents are shocked when they come in and I tell them I am only able to put forward one child from the school per year. That means we can only look at acute or severe needs.

“It means the system now overlooks those with milder learning difficulties,. Children with dyslexia and dyscalculia have no chance of a referral.

“Although we try to address dyslexia ourselves, very often parents seek private referrals because of their frustration with the system.”

With new budgets indicating a need for further cuts, Mr Milligan said special needs provision was likely to be first in line.

But he warned that cutting special needs teachers meant pupils would be forced to spend their whole day in mainstream classrooms where it would be very difficult to meet their needs

“There is no give in staffing levels so the only thing that can often be done is getting rid of special needs teachers,” he said.

Maxine Murphy-Higgins, a case worker with the teachers’ union, NASUWT said there was great concern that a special needs review, which has been ongoing for several years, was being used as an excuse for inaction.

“Staff are not being appointed, or they are moving on to other things because of the uncertainty,” she said.

“That is having an impact on vulnerable children who benefit from routine and familiarity. What we are hearing is that children are not getting consistency because the special needs system is under so much pressure.”

South Down MLA Colin McGrath, who is a member of Stormont’s Education Committee, said the reality of special needs support in mainstream schools was “nothing short of scandalous.”