As a result, between 2011 and 2019 government expenditure on special education increased by 46%, and special education as a percentage of the total education budget increased by 13%, with €1.9 billion [$2B] allocated to special education in 2019. In the same period, the number of additional teaching posts for special education increased by 46% and the provision of special classes by 196%. 

The number of students enrolled in special classes also increased by 155% and the number of students enrolled in special schools increased by 15%. It is now estimated that over a quarter of all students in Ireland’s mainstream schools have additional learning needs and/or disabilities….

More than 25 percent of children in school in Ireland have some type of special need. Clearly there are ongoing increases in the number of disabled students.

Special classes in Ireland

Banks and Shevlin note how special classes in Ireland have grown significantly since the late 2000s. Between 100 and 200 new special classes are opening every year, such that in 2019/20 more than 700 classes were in operation. The increase in provision has led to government concern about cost, with the annual cost per student increasing by 11% between 2012 and 2019.

It’s all about autism

The article went on to describe the significant role that autism plays in all of this.

Another significant change since the late 2000s has been that, whereas special classes were previously primarily aimed at students with general learning difficulties, 85% of special classes are now designated for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Though the data is limited, what data there is suggests that autism has a prevalence rate of 1.5% in schoolchildren in Ireland compared to other disabilities. Banks and Shevlin suggest that the increase in special classes designated for students with ASD has been, to some extent, influenced by parents and advocacy groups which has attracted media and political attention to the challenges that students with autism face in education.

The article was about which type of special education is best for children without any real concern about how Ireland will survive these astonishing increases in the long run.

Then on Dec 14, 2022, the Cork Independent published the story, Raised awareness from parents around autism.”

It revealed what autism is doing to Ireland.

This kind of service is needed more now than it ever has been, as figures published this year by the Department of Health reveal that 14,000 children between the ages of four and 15 have an autism diagnosis - around 4.7 per cent of the school population.

This is four times higher than the figure of just 1.2 per cent 10 years ago.

That means that one in every 21 students in school in Ireland is autistic.

This brings me to a current story out of Ireland. 

Oct 10, 2023, Meath Chronicle: New autism classrooms at Ratoath Junior NS were ‘worth waiting for’

It’s about a school adding new autism classrooms

…Former TD, Mary Wallace made the comments at the official opening of the new autism unit at the school on Friday….

Addressing elected representatives, Ms Wallace asked them to take two messages back: "The first message is that it is truly worth waiting for the proper facilities and whilst some amount of pressure can be exerted to accept children without having the correct facilities, in our opinion this is never the correct option and today’s facilities demonstrate the importance of getting it right from the start."

At the opening, the point was made quite strongly that this school would be for local students ONLY.

She also spoke about their belief that the unit should cater for those within the parish and not be filled with children from outside the area.

"Our second message is that children who fulfil the criteria should not have to travel outside of their parish to avail of these facilities. We firmly believe that there is no point in filling Ratoath places with children from 20 miles away and then the following year bringing Ratoath children 20 miles away because their places are filled.

"The plan should be to facilitate children in attending school in their own area along with their siblings and it is the boards’ view that this aspect of inclusion is equally important."

Ms Wallace said classrooms had been opened with local children and said they also have extensive interest from parents in the Ratoath community for 2024 and expect to be offering places for next year in early January in line with their admissions policy.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.

The Wuhan Cover-Up: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race (Children’s Health Defense) 

“Gain-of-function” experiments are often conducted to deliberately develop highly virulent, easily transmissible pathogens for the stated purpose of developing preemptive vaccines for animal viruses before they jump to humans. More insidious is the “dual use” nature of this research, specifically directed toward bioweapons development. The Wuhan Cover-Up pulls back the curtain on how the US government's increase in biosecurity spending after the 2001 terror attacks set in motion a plan to transform the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, into a de facto Defense Department agency.

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