Ireland’s Special Education Secret’s-Part One

There are a few things the Department of Education and Science (DES), the Special Education Support Service (SESS) and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) don’t want you to know about special education provision in Ireland. In a few short blogs I’m going to tell you about your entitlement. I urge you to read carefully and make sure departmental policy is being followed. If you want to know more I refer you to my book, “The Essential Guide to Special Education in Ireland”, published by Primary ABC, Dublin Ireland.

Circular SpEd 24/03

This is one of the most important circulars the DES has ever published because it outlines exactly what is supposed to happen if you or your child’s teacher suspects you child may have a learning difficulty. Notice that I said a learning difficulty. I did not say a Learning Disability. A learning difficulty refers to any sort of delay you child may have in academic, social, emotional, physical or behavioural development. It does not mean that someone thinks your child has dyslexia (but if that is the case the same rules outlined below apply).

This circular describes the Staged Approach to special education. This approach is meant to prevent children from being assessed and given special education assistance when they don’t’ need it. This circular is an important protection for child and parent alike and applies to every primary school in the country without exception. There are three stages in this approach. This blog describes Stage One.

Stage One

If you or teacher suspects a learning difficulty the circular says the teacher must administer screening measures or checklists to the child to see if the concern is justified but only if the child is in Senior Infant of First Class. If the child is in 1^st class or above the teacher is supposed to administer a norm-referenced assessment of the child.

If concerns are justified the teacher must draw up a short, written plan of intervention for learning or behavioural difficulties which must be reviewed regularly, with the parents, for about two school terms. This plan may be written with the assistance of the school’s home-school liaison teacher. Parents are meant to be involved in this process. Then, and only then, the plan will be reviewed and if success has been achieved the interventions can either continue or be stopped as all is well. If the plan is not successful the process moves to Stage Two of the staged approach to special education.