Making preschools more autism friendly

One Co Cork preschool knew two children coming in at the beginning of the year were on the autism spectrum, but by the end of the year it turned out there were five.

“It was very tough,” says Helena O’Sullivan, manager of Glenfields Community Childcare in Ballyvolane, which has 93 children attending creche and preschool. Nineteen of those children have additional needs.

“Two of them had to leave – and I hate saying that – but it was in the interests of the child that they go to a unit where they get one-on-one.” But many early childhood educators such as her would argue that it would be better, in some cases, if these children got one-one-one support in a mainstream preschool.

Currently, children diagnosed early with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be able to attend early intervention classes provided at a specialised unit by the Department of Education and Skills. Those who are unable to go to a specialised unit are given 10 hours with a home tutor from the age of two and a half, increasing to 20 hours from the age of three.

However, children cannot avail of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme in a mainstream creche with the support of the tutor. It is one or the other.

“The argument is that it would be double funding,” explains Kevin Whelan, chief executive of Irish Autism Action (IAA).

The one-to-one home schooling is obviously a vital component, “but part of the issues surrounding autism is children learning how to play with others and how to integrate with their peers”, he says. The home programme should be making children ready for preschool, and the IAA contends that the home tutor should be able to support the child in integrating into the preschool. “The chances of success for the child are hugely increased if you can get that level of support around the transition,” Whelan says.

Meanwhile, the IAA is working closely with Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) to make preschools more autism friendly. The €300,000 raised by Pyjama Day in preschool services earlier this year is being ploughed into “autism access” training for staff, to support not only children with the condition but parents who have been unaware that their child is affected.

The experience of Glenfields in suspecting that children have ASD, unbeknown to their parents, is one that is played out in many preschools. It is “very hard” to tell parents that staff believe a child might be on the autism spectrum, says O’Sullivan. But they always stress that they are not there to diagnose but that they have a concern.

“Some parents will say, ‘Oh, I thought that’, and others are totally in denial. Staff then need to support families through the process of looking for assessment of the child and coping in the meantime – bearing in mind that the ECCE does not pay providers for any time they are not directly engaging with the children.

The number of children with additional needs is “frightening”, says O’Sullivan. Staff are doing extra training to better equip themselves to help these children “but you don’t get extra rewards or recognition of the work you do”.