Early Education Provision.

Early childhood education refers to education before the start of formal schooling or before the age of six, which is the age at which children are required by Irish law to start their education. In Ireland, early childhood education is generally understood to include infant classes in primary schools.

The State supports early intervention for children with special educational needs through providing funding to a number of crèche/pre-school settings including:

• early intervention settings attached to mainstream and special schools
• early intervention settings attached to HSE funded service providers
• private pre-school settings supported by the ECCE scheme
• private pre-school settings supported by HSE grant aid
• Home Tuition

A child can access one or more of the above mentioned early intervention settings where he/she meet the eligibility criteria for support and if the service is available in the area.

The state aims over time to support a single early intervention setting structure. In the meantime, parents can access one or more of the above mentioned early intervention settings, subject to availability of service and meeting the eligibility criteria for support.

Further information can be found in the dedicated tabs on the left (top for some mobile users). Please select a tab to view the information. 

Points to consider in selecting an early education setting.

• How much one-to-one attention from an adult will my child receive?
• Will the adult have the skills and experience to support and build on my child’s ability to communicate?
• Will the adults have the skills and experience to address and support my child’s behavioural, social and sensory needs?
• Can activities be adapted to meet the needs of my child?
• Will my child’s time in the setting be structured and consistent?
• Will any necessary therapies (speech and language therapy, behavior support) or supports (special needs assistant) be provided or welcomed in the setting?

Dept of Education & Skills ASD Preschool Class.

The Department of Education and Skills provides for early intervention classes for children with autism from the age of three.

These classes are run by the Dept of Education and Skills and use an eclectic approach to education. There is 6 children in the class with one teacher and 2 SNA’s.

Places are usually allocated via the SENO (Special Education Needs Organiser) and Home Tuition will not be approved if there is a placement available in one of these classes

The list of specialist classes is published here each year.

List of local SENO contacts here.

Early Intervention Preschool.

Some Early Intervention Service providers offer preschool services. The Early Intervention Team will advise parents if they provide this service and will also make the referral.

Not all early intervention services providers have this option available. 

Private Preschool with Personal Assistant. 

Preschool Assistants provided to work with a child in pre-school are paid from the home support budget.

Home Support is a service administered through the Disability Services Team/Autism Teams within the Health Services Executive.  It varies widely from county to county how this is administered and there are variations to the rules in each area.  

The family can contact their team or social worker to understand how Home Support is applied in their area. They can also ask the Public Health Nurse or Local Health Centre.

Parents may hear the term SNA (Special Needs Assistant) used in reference to preschool children. The terms PA and SNA are used interchangeably, in common use. In fact, the SNA scheme is funded by the Dept of Education and applies to Primary and Secondary School settings only. The Personal Assistant scheme is for preschool children only and is funded by HSE.

Early Childhood Ireland has been lobbying to have the SNA scheme extended to preschool settings. The following is an extract from their submission to an Oireachtas Committee:

• No Department or body currently has responsibility to provide SNAs for children participating in ECCE albeit that this is a universal scheme to provide early education opportunities for all children.
• Of those pre-school services with one or more SNAs (463 out of 3,137 survey respondents, Pobal, 2012) approx. 33% are funded through HSE; 33% are funded through charitable bodies such as Enable Ireland; and 33% are funded through parents, services and others.
• Parent’s ability to pay for SNA support has lessened in recent timesEECE services struggle to be sustainable and have no capacity to fund or part-fund SNA posts.
• Pre-school ratios have increased following budget 2012 making additional demands on staff.

Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme enables children to avail of a free pre-school place in the year before they commence primary school.

Children with special educational needs can apply to avail of this scheme over a two-year period, with the number of hours and funding per child equating to those of a single school year.

Parents can also apply for a waiver of the upper age limit on the basis that their child’s special educational needs may delay their entry to primary school.

A detailed guide to the Early Childhood Care and Education programme and procedures is available on the website of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

A child cannot avail of the full ECCE in addition to the full Home Tuition Scheme grant. If a child receives ECCE the number of hours will be deducted from the number of hours allocated to Home Tuition grant. (e.g. a 3 year old child receiving 15 hours ECCE per week will receive 5 hours Home Tuition grant hours per week)

Home Tuition Scheme. 

The Home Tuition Scheme provides for tuition in the home for children who are unable to attend school due to a significant medical condition. The scheme is also available for children with special needs who are unable to attend school due to the non-availability of school placements.

In addition, children with autism of a pre-school age may avail of the scheme. The child qualifies for the scheme at 2.5 years old and will receive 10 hours tuition per week. This increases to 20 hrs per week at 3 years of age.

As tuition takes place outside the usual school structure it is important that home tutors are qualified to provide an educational programme. Accordingly, it is a condition of the scheme that parents must recruit a fully qualified teacher who is registered with the Teaching Council of Ireland.  

Where all efforts have failed to secure the services of a teacher qualified to teach in the sector concerned, the Department may consider the engagement of a person who is registered with the Teaching Council and has a primary degree (minimum Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications) in a relevant area (e.g. Psychology).

The Home Tuition Form can be downloaded from www.education.ie – type “home tuition” in the search box.

The Department of Education and Science allocate a grant of a number of hours at the current rate.  Home Tuition grants are paid using two separate methods:

(A) If home tuition is provided by a teacher who is currently on the primary teachers’ payroll of the Department of Education and Skills as a permanent primary school teacher, payment will be made directly to the teacher through the Department’s payroll.

A completed claim form signed by both the parent and the teacher should be returned to the payments section at the end of each month. Parents must not pay their tutors who are permanent primary school teachers as the Department will not refund any payments made by you.

(B) If home tuition is provided by a teacher / tutor who is NOT currently on the primary teachers’ payroll as a permanent primary school teacher, payment must be made directly to the legal guardian. Such payments are made only be Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly into the bank account of the legal guardian only. Direct payment into the bank account of a tutor is not permitted. Only the parent / legal guardian of the child can seek payment of Home Tuition. You must also present an up to date Tax Clearance Certificate when claiming Home Tuition in lump sum form.

Contact Special Education Section at 0902-74621 or 01-8734700

Also Citizens Information

The 2015/16 Home Tuition application form and guidelines is here.

You can find information on your local SENO here.

A new application form is published at the beginning of each school year along with any changes in guidelines for the scheme.

Private ASD Preschool. 

There are a number of private preschools in Ireland that offer an ABA approach to education. Funding for these placements is via Home Tuition Scheme.

A parent applies to the SENO for funding under the scheme and payments are made directly to the preschool, or in some instances to the parent who then pays the preschool. As the funding is via the HT scheme the same conditions apply, max 20 hours education per week.

This will only be approved if there is no Dept of Ed preschool placement available.

Jonix is a national ASD preschool provider, with several preschools around the country. 

Websites. 

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education

Citizens Information

Department of Education & Skills

National Council for Special Education.