David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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531. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason NEPS psychology services are unable to diagnose autism. [46667/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides psychological support to all primary, post-primary, and special schools.

NEPS provides access for all schools to:

• Psychological support in the event of a Critical Incident.
• A casework service for individual students where there is a need for intensive consultation and assessment via a NEPS psychologist or through the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments (SCPA).
• A school staff Support and Development Service, to build school capability to provide a comprehensive continuum of support in schools.
• Ongoing access to advice and support for schools.

NEPS is a school-based psychological service focusing on the needs of children and young people in schools. In relation to the diagnosis of autism, and in light of the complexity of an autism diagnostic assessment, best practice indicates that the range of expertise and perspectives provided within experienced multidisciplinary teams can best support consideration of differential diagnosis, alternative explanations or co-occurring conditions. It is NEPS policy, therefore, to refer children to multidisciplinary teams for autism diagnosis.

NEPS psychologists can help schools support the educational needs of children and young people in school who may have a diagnosis of autism or are awaiting a multidisciplinary assessment for autism in the context of the Continuum of Support. The Continuum of Support is the framework used by schools to identify and respond to needs. This framework recognises that special educational needs occur along a continuum, ranging from mild to severe, and from transient to long term, and that children and young people require different levels of support depending on their identified educational needs, rather than based on diagnosis of disability.

The Department has developed the ‘Autism Good Practice Guidance – Supporting Children and Young People’ as a resource for schools. It is available online at gov.ie - Autism Good Practice Guidance for Schools – Supporting Children and Young People. This comprehensive guidance has been developed following extensive research and collaboration with educational practitioners as to how best to meet the needs of children and young people with autism.

The Autism Good Practice Guidance is designed to help support the inclusion, well-being, learning and participation of children and young people with autism in education. It aims to assist school staff to understand the varied nature of students’ strengths and needs, as well as to identify whole-school and individualised approaches to supports for students. It can be used by staff supporting autistic students across a range of educational environments including mainstream, special class, and special school settings.