Children and adults with disabilities in Ireland face significant barriers in education, the labour market and in adult life, an ESRI multi-disciplinary research conference was told in Dublin today.
The Disability Through the Life-course conference heard how children with special educational needs (SEN) are more at risk of social isolation and how people of working age who have a disability have a higher unemployment rate than those without a disability.
In a paper presented by ESRI researcher Joanne Banks, some 25 per cent of school children were identified as having diverse special educational needs ranging from those with physical or mental disability to children with emotional and learning difficulties.
Children with special educational needs are more likely to report not liking school than their peers, have fewer friends and have more negative peer relations.
“The overarching theme is to discover to what extent inclusion in schools is being achieved for children with special educational needs and, in particular, why those with emotional behavioural difficulties are so disengaged at such a young age,” Ms Banks said.
Over 8,500 children aged 9 were surveyed and data was collected from multiple sources including parents, teachers, principals, and from the children themselves.
“It means you get this holistic aspect to the child’s life - It allows us to tap into more subtle aspects of the child’s life. They have fewer friends, the quality of their friendships is different and they are more likely to be socially isolated as well.”
Ms Banks said there is a lack of discussion around emotional behavioural difficulties in schools and the extent to which it is the school’s responsibility to deal with those issues.
“Supports and awareness are needed and this would be a case where teacher training and teacher education around areas such as emotional behavioural difficulties would be important.”
Ms Banks said it was important to ensure that children with SEN are in an inclusive setting and “not just a physical placement in the class” but one that allows for “actual genuine interaction with the curriculum and with friends. “
A paper presented by Dr Dorothy Watson found that labour market participation of people with disabilities appears low in Ireland by European standards.
“We are about in the middle in terms of the disability rate - but we are very, very low compared to other European countries in terms of those with limited activity that are in employment,” she said.
The social welfare system was partly at fault in that there was little support for those with disability who wished to work.
“People that are categorised as having a disability are not expected or helped to move into the labour market.”
“That is slowly changing,” Dr Watson said.
Many people with a disability are more likely to be limited in the number of job hours or work that they can comfortably do.
“The thing that would help the most is probably something that would help other workers as well and that is flexibility - in terms of hours and how the job is defined.”
