Ireland
Country
Topic:
Identification of children with serious and obvious disabilities usually takes place at or shortly after birth. The identification team typically includes such personnel as an obstetrician-gynaecologist, a neo-natal paediatrician and a nurse. At a later stage, other personnel such as a public health nurse, a psychologist and a social worker may be involved.
Developmental checks are carried out on infants at regular intervals, in maternity hospitals or by family doctors initially, as part of the Mother and Infant Scheme, and thereafter in public health developmental clinics or in the home.
The public health clinics give children access to doctors, nurses, psychologists, speech therapists, social workers and physiotherapists either employed directly by Health Boards or by grant-aided voluntary agencies. These services enable children with a severe or moderate degree of disability to be assessed and their special needs to be met, at pre-school level. Most of these children begin their schooling in special educational settings in mainstream or in special schools.
Children with serious visual or hearing impairment are generally referred to the visual impairment and audiology services of the National Rehabilitation Board and thereafter to the Visiting Teacher Service of the Department of Education and Science.
A recent development is the maintenance of a database of children with specific physical, cognitive, sensory or emotional disabilities by Health Boards. This has resulted in a more effective co-ordination of service delivery and less duplication of resources.
Psychological assessment services in Ireland are still largely under the control of health authorities, even when the assessments are for educational purposes. Psychologists employed by the Department of Education and Science carry out psychological assessment of students with special needs as part of their duties but most psychological assessments in the primary and post-primary years are carried out in clinics managed by non-statutory voluntary bodies. These clinics are generally associated with or attached to centres or special schools for students with significant learning disabilities. Assessments are also conducted by psychologists employed directly by Health Boards or by the National Rehabilitation Board.
After a process of extensive consultation with the education partners, the Government has decided that The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) will be established on September 1, 1999, as a executive agency of the Department of Education and Science. The service will be developed over a five-year period and will eventually have a staff of 200 psychologists.
Its objective will be to provide educational psychology services for all students in first- and second-level schools and in other centres supported by the Department of Education and Science. In time the NEPS will become an independent statutory agency under the terms of the 1998 Education Act.
It is envisaged that the NEPS will provide a vital element of the Government's developing policy on special needs education and social inclusion. A comprehensive system will be put in place to identify and assist all children with learning difficulties. An important operating principle for the NEPS will be close liaison and co-operation with psychological and other services provided and funded by Health Boards, including services provided by voluntary agencies.
In relation to children with special needs, the principal role of the psychologist will be to consult with teachers and parents, to identify the special needs of the child and to make recommendations for appropriate provision. The NEPS will also have a role in the development of special needs policy at national level.