Are secondary schools using “soft barriers” to turn away students with special needs? Some schools tell parents they don’t have the resources for special needs children (even though resources follow the child, according to authorities). While in some cases teachers or schools feel they are not equipped to handle special needs students, others worry that their academic standards might be tarnished. Following his diagnosis in 2012 at the age of seven, the recommendation from his multidisciplinary special needs assessment team was to attend mainstream primary school with a special class. Out of the 11 secondary schools in the area, only four had ASD special classes but places were either oversubscribed or unavailable for September 2018.

Source: The Irish Times May 14, 2018 22:52 UTC