§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many autistic children have(a) received and (b) refused applied behaviour analysis teaching in (i) the Southern Health and Social Services Board and (ii) the Belfast Board Area. [121604]
§ Jane KennedyThe Education and Library Boards support pupils with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a range of methods. Provision may include classroom assistance, support from ASD Advisory Officers or peripatetic teachers. This teaching provision may include aspects of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), along with other interventions, such as Treatment and Education of Autistic Children and those with related Communications Handicaps (TEACCH) and Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).
It is not, therefore, possible to quantify the number of children with an ASD who have been taught using ABA techniques in any given Education and Library Board area.
In terms of specific, commercially available ABA Programmes for individual children, information is held by Education and Library Boards not Health and Social Services Boards. The Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) is currently funding four children. The Southern Education and Library Board (SELB) is funding none. In the SELB there have been two other where an ABA Programme has been requested but other ASD-specific provision has been made, tailored to the individual needs of the child. In the BELB area, offers of financial support towards the cost of an ABA Programme have been made in another three cases. In one case this offer has been rejected, in the other two, negotiations are ongoing.