In 2009, The Red Door joined with other ABA pilot schools to apply for a new Patron Body to be recognised by the Department of Education. Autism Ireland is now a patron body of "Special Schools for Children with Autism and Complex Needs". Members of Autism Ireland are now in the process of changing to this Special School status.
Update Reports:
Limited to staff and parents regarding this process of change
Members of Autism Ireland
The 7 schools who are members of Autism Ireland are:
- ABACAS Kilbarrack, Dublin
- ABACAS Kilnamanagh, Dublin
- ABACAS Drogheda
- Abalta School, Galway
- Stepping Stones, Kildare
- The Jonah Project, Waterford
- The Red Door, Dublin
At the time of writing, each member school can nominate 2 Directors onto the Board of Autism Ireland.
Training for new BOM's
Autism Ireland organised training sessions for intending members of Boards of Management during October and November 2010. Further sessions will be arranged soon.
Location: All sessions scheduled to take place in Naas Road / Louis Fitzgerald Hotel.
The agendas for the first 2 sessions are available here: 
BOM Training Sessions 1 and 2. Any Red Door parent interested in attending these should contact
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.
Recognition by the Department of Education
In July 2010, Autism Ireland was approved as a patron for special schools for children with autism and complex needs. The autism specific education will be provided using "evidence based education interventions" including Applied Behaviour Analysis. Such schools will also provide appropriate therapy supports. Click here for more information on the background to this recognition process.
Transition Process
Moving from Pilot to Special School status involves adhering to standard school governance rules and regulations. Click here for a list of some of these relevant circulars and background information.
1. Temporary School Manager
Once an offer of Special School status has been accepted, the Patron Body appoints the existing Board or a Manager to the school to take temporary control of the school, prior to the formal setting up of the newly-constitued Board of Management. The recruitment of the new Principal of the new Special School is the responsibility of this interim management.
Once recruited, the Principal assists in the recruitment of the requisite number of qualified teachers.
2. Set-up of the new Board of Management
The manager needs to facilitate a newly-constituted Board of Management to take over. Initially, this Board is made up of:
- 2 Nominees from the Patron Body
- Principal and a Teacher Representative
- 2 elected Parents Representatives (one mum and one dad)
At the first BOM meeting, the 6 members need to agree invitations to 2 further Board members to join. These 2 extra Board members are intended to be representative of the wider community, and can be selected based on their support for the ethos and workings of the school, and/or bring preferred areas of expertise to the Board.
Once the new Board of Management is set up, the temporary role of the Manager is redundant. The Patron Body must approve this new Board, and formally delegates the responsibility of running the school to it. It also appoints the Chairperson of this ne Board.
3. What happens to existing staff?
Existing ABA tutors at The Red Door will be re-hired as SNA's, as per SIPTU's agreement with the Department. The Director post will continue to be funded by the Department for a limited period. However, as noted before, the role and responsibility of this post is yet to be defined and agreed. These matters will form a key part of the School Plan, which must be drafted as soon as possible.
Other ABA Schools
The first ABA school in Ireland started in 1998, in Cork. Funded as a "pilot project" by Minister Michael Martin, CABAS was formed by parents of children with autism. Cabas continues to operate, and may transfer to Special School status under separate patronage.
Separately, the Saplings group of schools are members of a separate Saplings Patron Body, including their schools in:
- Kill, Co. Kildare
- Rathfarnham, Dublin
- Mullingar
- Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny
- Carlow
"Applicant Schools" are those parent-formed schools which, to date, have not been recognised or funded directly by the Dept of Education, and whose status was to be re-considered by the Dept of Education once the status of the existing "Pilot Schools" had been addressed. Many of these applicant schools have either merged with other pilot or mainstream schools or ceased to operate. Originally, Home Tuition Grants were used to part-fund these applicant schools:
- Achieve ABA, North Co. Dublin - still open and very much active
- Abacas, Dundalk - effectively merging with Abacas Drogheda
- Kerry Autism Action
- Bluebell, Limerick
Separately, parents at St. Catherine's / Barnacoyle have expressed the wish to avail of any new structure and status that may arise out of the current discussions, to reflect their use of the science of ABA in their school.
Another ABA Centre that moved some time ago into an existing school is CAN, Cottage Autism Network, in Wexford. CAN now operates as a parent support group.
Origins of the Structural Change
The current round of discussions with the Dept of Education originated in the commitment in the Programme for Government 2007, which included the following:
- Commit to long-term funding for the 12 centres that are currently in the ABA pilot scheme, subject to agreement with the Department of Education on standards that will enable the Department to
support them as primary schools for children with autism.
Earlier in 2004, a first round of discussions between the Department and IAA was initiated by Minister Dempsey, who asked the Pilot Schools to draw up a template for ABA Schools. Whilst this template was drawn up, the subsequent discussions did not reach an agreed conclusion.
The Programme for Government 2007 also included other commitments relevant to students with special needs:
- Prioritise early assessment and increase the number of educational psychologists in the Department of Education’s NEPS service to 200 by 2009
- Expand pre-school provision around the country to ensure early intervention
- Provide each child with special needs with the right to an Individual Education Plan. This will ensure
that each child has a tailored programme to meet their unique individual needs. In the case of
children with autism, the Plan will enable them to benefit from a range of teaching approaches,
including PECS, ABA and TEACCH, as appropriate - Implement the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act in full.
All parents of children with special needs should to be aware of the necessity to maintain political pressure to ensure that the rights and entitlements to the very best services, both educational and health, are fulfilled by the State.
We should remember that there is an EU "Charter of Rights for People with Autism". This was adopted by the European Parliament in 1996, and it is supposed to be enhanced, protected and enforced by our own parliament.