Madam, - It was with optimism that I heard Mary Hanafin's interview on RTÉ Radio on July 2nd when she mentioned that her special interest, as Minister for Education, was autism.
Unfortunately, since then nothing has happened to show the sincerity of her words. Her refusal to meet families or advocates of families smacks of indifference.
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is a teaching approach that values the importance of breaking learning objectives into small teachable units, using clearly defined instructional procedures in a consistent manner. The United States National Institute of Mental Health officially recognises that the ABA approach is the only approach towards treatment of autism that has a body of scientific, well-designed literature supporting its effectiveness.
Yet the Minister and her Department favour an eclectic methodology, comprising elements selected from different programmes, which suggest a disjointed, ad hoc approach.
While I acknowledge that there are a limited number of ABA schools in centres of major population, catering for younger children, there is a lack of them in less densely populated areas. Children, especially older children, in such areas are suffering grave inequality and educational deprivation.
The Department of Education seems to believe that primary teachers with limited training in autism are capable of delivering an education which it deem adequate. This expectation is unfair to both teacher and child.
Surely the Minister and educationists within the Department ought to be aware of the complexities and variations of the autistic spectrum. Only highly qualified and specialised personnel can deliver an appropriate education which addresses behavioural issues in addition to educating the child both socially and academically.
As a parent of a child with autism I am acutely aware of the child's needs and have campaigned tirelessly for the past eight years. During this time I have felt frustrated, patronised, hurt, misled, bullied and fobbed off by the Department of Education, which has ignored the needs of my child and is happy to continue with a system that is clearly not effective.
An appropriate intensive education delivered by specialised personnel is the right of these children. Without such intervention, many of them will end up in institutional care which in the long term will be much more costly in terms of resources and personnel to the State.
I appeal to the Minister to listen to parents and broaden her vision. - Yours, etc,
CARMEL HINEY, Crossmolina, Co Mayo.