Ireland’s Autism charity finds absence of autistic voices in school codes of behaviour

Findings of AsIAm’s recent report reveals exclusion of Autistic voices in school policies.

AsIAm, Ireland’s Autism charity, published its latest report highlighting what they describe as "worrying discriminatory codes of behaviour towards Autistic school children in Ireland."

The report named “What We Wish You Knew" is a rights-based analysis of school Codes of Behaviour in Ireland, where 40 schools' codes of behaviour country-wide were reviewed.

It was conducted independently by Dr. Amy Hanna, and was funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Grant Scheme.

It presents critical evidence of the failure to meet the rights of Autistic students under Irish school policies.

Key findings include: a lack of rights-based approach, where "not one" of the codes of behaviour were found to be fully rights-compliant, poor understanding of Autism and children’s rights, an absence of autistic voices and discriminatory practices.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Disability, Pauline Tully TD, who is also on the Joint Committee on Autism said the committee published a report with 23 recommendations in regard to education, many of which "tie in" with the recent AsIAm report.

“One of its recommendations was that ‘long-term planning for the full inclusion of children with additional educational needs, including autism, must begin immediately to ensure that autistic children are not segregated from their non-autistic peers and that they receive a high standard of education and achieve the best possible outcomes," she said.

The report saw "the need" for the Minister for Education to update Continuing Professional Development (CPD) "to ensure that education professionals, including teachers and SNAs, receive suitable autism training."

She explained that the report also called for the Minister to "implement measures to reduce the use of reduced school hours" and ensure that "protocols around restraint and penalisation are stated unambiguously, with a view towards eliminating these practices."

“We need the Department of Education to publish its long-awaited guidelines on the use of seclusion and restraint in schools and the government to engage constructively with Tulsa’s review of the statutory guidelines on Codes of Behaviour and urgently deliver on the issues presented in AsIAm’s report,” she concluded.