Some points raised in the article were put to the Department of Education. In response it said it wanted to "refute the statement that nothing is being done for children with autism". "The department has worked with both mainstream and special schools to establish autism-specific provision for 1,500 children," it said in a statement to The Irish Times.
"Early intervention is encouraged and supported. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as young as two-and-a-half receive 10 hours per week home tuition. This increases to 20 hours per week once a child is three. The National Council for Special Education will continue to work with schools to establish more autism-specific provision as it is required and Special Educational Needs Officers are available for parents seeking advice, information or if they are experiencing difficulties.
"Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) means the systematic application, at any time during the day, of behavioural principles to modify behaviour. The effectiveness of behavioural interventions to improve the performance of children with ASD and to ameliorate behavioural difficulties has been recognised since the 1960s. These principles are part of any successful education programme for any child, not just children with ASD. Teachers in special schools were using ABA principles more than 25 years ago.
"Exclusive use of ABA has in recent years being promoted to parents as the only scientifically proven intervention for children with ASD. The assertion in the article regarding the introduction of ABA into this country appears to relate specifically to EIBI (ie the Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention programme). EIBI refers to a behaviourally-based instruction routine in which a particular trial may be repeated several times in succession, several times a day, over several days (or even longer) until the skill is mastered. However, ABA is not synonymous with EIBI. The department has reviewed research provided by the Irish Autism Action group and other research on educational interventions for children with autistic spectrum disorders. It is clear that this research does not support the exclusive usage of ABA as a basis for national educational provision. It is essential that educational intervention for children with ASD needs to be child-centred - tailored to meet the needs of each child - rather than matching the needs of a child to one particular version of one intervention."
"The department considers", the statement added, "that children with ASD are best placed in school settings where children have access to individualised education programmes, fully-qualified professional teachers, special needs assistants, the appropriate curriculum with the option, where possible and appropriate, of full/partial integration and interaction with other pupils. As a further support, many smaller schools which have autism units can have an administrative principal to assist the establishment and running of specialist intervention locally."
