Claire O’Sullivan, Irish Examiner, Friday, August 27, 2010
PARENTS of special needs children said they face further cutbacks after the Department of Education confirmed children signed up for the free preschool year will have specialist home tuition hours cut.
A new circular from the Department of Education has made it clear that a child will not be allowed to hold on to its full home tuition allocation if it is availing of the 15 hour per week Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme.
Home tuition hours are given to children who have been diagnosed as needing one-on-one help to develop basic skills such as communication and task completion. The Department of Education allows four-year-old children with autism, for example, up to 20 hours of home tuition per week. Yesterday, they stressed this allocation was dependent on a school placement not being available.
However, angry parents said they are determined to fight efforts by the Department to cut their supports, saying home tuition and the ECCE schemes are different entities, with home tuition allowing individualised developmental help, while the ECCE allows for the "socialisation" of the child with autism and can pave the way for their eventual transition to mainstream school.
The ECCE scheme began at the beginning of this year so only ran for six months, but from September it will cover a full year.
When the free preschool year was announced by the Office of the Minister for Children last year, Minister Barry Andrews said it was a universal entitlement.
Chief executive of autism charity Shine Ireland Kieran Kennedy said many parents are only becoming aware of the planned changes. He said some parents have also been warned that, if they are receiving physical therapies from the HSE, such as guaranteed sessional physiotherapy and occupational therapy (OT) programmes, this too could affect their entitlement to the ECCE.
"It is ludicrous what is going on. I have no doubt that the Government would much rather that they pay just €68.50 for the ECCE than the €600 that 15 hours of home tuition would cost if you are paying a qualified teacher. It’s just another way of cutting back on special needs children. The needs of a child should be paramount but, with this Government, it’s secondary to resources. There is going to be a huge backlash from parents who have already seen them try to remove the country’s 13 ABA schools."
Last night a spokesman for the Department of Education said the 2010 circular on the Home Tuition Scheme was modified to "reflect the introduction of the ECCE Scheme and to provide clarity for applicants on available supports".
At present, special needs preschool children are using the ECCE, home tuition or going to special early intervention schools or early intervention schools attached to mainstream schools.
"However, the intention is over time to support a single early intervention setting structure. In the meantime, subject to availability of service and, where applicable, meeting the eligibility criteria for support, parents can access one of the above mentioned early intervention settings," she added.
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