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Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Richard Tice Demands Apology From Matt Hancock Over Covid Vaccines: ?Horrendous at Every Level? Thu Jan 16, 2025 15:38 | Will Jones
Reform Party leader Richard Tice has called for former Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apologise over his handling of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, calling it "horrendous at every level".
The post Richard Tice Demands Apology From Matt Hancock Over Covid Vaccines: “Horrendous at Every Level” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Keir Starmer?s Human Rights Lawyer Chum is Shipwrecking His Government Thu Jan 16, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
From handing over the Chagos Islands to compensating Gerry Adams, Starmer's decisions owe more to human rights lawyers than sound politics. He needs to sack his chum Lord Hermer before he shipwrecks his Government.
The post Keir Starmer’s Human Rights Lawyer Chum is Shipwrecking His Government appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Why the ?1 in 73 Muslims in Rotherham? Statistic Is Misleading Thu Jan 16, 2025 11:00 | Noah Carl
One figure that has been repeatedly cited in the grooming gangs debate is that 1 in 73 Muslim men in the town of Rotherham has been prosecuted for grooming gang offences. However, this figure is slightly misleading.
The post Why the ?1 in 73 Muslims in Rotherham? Statistic Is Misleading appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Heat Pumps May Never be Cheaper than Gas Boilers, Miliband Admits Thu Jan 16, 2025 09:00 | Will Jones
Heat pumps may never be cheaper than gas boilers, Ed Miliband has admitted as Labour sneaks a new boiler tax through Parliament that will push up prices.
The post Heat Pumps May Never be Cheaper than Gas Boilers, Miliband Admits appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Net Zero vs AI: Starmer Hasn?t Worked Out That The U.K. Can?t Be a ?Superpower? in Both Climate and ... Thu Jan 16, 2025 07:00 | Ben Pile
Keir Starmer wants Britain to be both an "AI superpower" and a "clean energy superpower". He can't have it both ways, says Ben Pile. AI is hugely energy intensive and inconsistent with the path Net Zero is leading us down.
The post Net Zero vs AI: Starmer Hasn’t Worked Out That The U.K. Can’t Be a ‘Superpower’ in Both Climate and Computing appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Trump and Musk, Canada, Panama and Greenland, an old story, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jan 14, 2025 07:03 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?114-115 Fri Jan 10, 2025 14:04 | en

offsite link End of Russian gas transit via Ukraine to the EU Fri Jan 10, 2025 13:45 | en

offsite link After Iraq, Libya, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, the Pentagon attacks Yemen, by Thier... Tue Jan 07, 2025 06:58 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?113 Fri Dec 20, 2024 10:42 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Special Needs Education

category national | health / disability issues | opinion/analysis author Wednesday December 08, 2004 20:11author by Sean Crudden - imperoauthor email sean at impero dot iol dot ieauthor address Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth.author phone 087 9739945 Report this post to the editors

Diverse Needs Require Diverse Provision

Disability in general covers the broad spectrums of sensory, physical, learning and mental/emotional disability. Meeting the special educational needs of children (and adults) with a disability poses a searching challenge to educators in this country. Meeting that challenge may carry many rewards for everyone involved in the educational and training spheres.
Sean Crudden pictured at the pier in Omeath with Warrenpoint in the background.
Sean Crudden pictured at the pier in Omeath with Warrenpoint in the background.

A conference entitled "Student Journeys: The Special Education Routes" was held in O’Reilly Hall in UCD on Monday and Tuesday 6 & 7 December 2004. It was organised by the National Disability Authority. The legal background, to the conference and the issue, is the "Education for People with Special Educational Needs Act (2004)" and, perhaps to a lesser extent the "Disabilities Bill" which is currently under discussion within and without the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The general idea emerging, and backed by the full weight of the law, is summed up in two words - "inclusion" and "mainstreaming." It seems that all (except, possibly, in the case of low-frequency, profound disability) special education provision will take place in mainstream schools in the future.

There is repeated and strong emphasis on "assessment of need" as a basis for all provision of disability services.

I notice elsewhere that the proportion of early school leavers is 18.5% for boys in the year 2002. So mainstream second level schools are in a profound way "non-inclusive" themselves. In spite of initiatives like Transition Year Option, the Leaving Certificate Vocational Program, the Leaving Certificate Applied, etc., the second level system is a "one-size-fits-all" setup. Streaming and selection already fragment the school population and demoralise many. Indeed, judging by recent deliberations of the TUI and statements from that union’s hierarchy, teacher dissatisfaction with the "discipline" problem may, in time, lead to a widening of the definition of disability to include a lot of students who are presently too much of a challenge or obstruction for teachers. So I wonder if mainstreaming will guarantee inclusion for all disabled students in the way the ideologues intend? Of course the necessity to provide in a meaningful way for disabled students may prompt more, and more necessary thinking about the aims and methodologies of schools and lead to a more human and more tailored provision for each and every student safeguarding at the same time equality and proper socialisation.

Assessment by its very nature can often be limiting and pessimistic. It is a moot question whether assessment would be more open and optimistic coming from the parent, the teacher, the psychologist, the psychiatrist or the disabled person herself.

The education system at second and tertiary level is already assessment ridden and it shows. There is no evidence of enhanced achievement and joie-de-vivre is almost dead in a student population given more to binge drinking and excess that to anything else.

An interesting figure to emerge at the conference is that 80% of people who are disabled suffer from an acquired disability. Only 20% of disabled people were born with their disability.

Related Link: http://www.iol.ie/~impero/

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   People with Disabilities.....Rights based is essential.     Michelle Clarke    Thu Feb 17, 2005 21:10 
   Individual Education Plans (IEP's)     Sean    Wed Sep 14, 2005 13:22 


 
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