Campaign Update 19th June 2013 Presentation by Prof. Sue Buckley OBE to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education, and Social Protection. Prof. Sue Buckley OBE will make a presentation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education, and Social Protection on the 11th September 2013. Prof. Buckley is one of the world’s leading authorities on the education and development of people with Down syndrome. We believe that the information that Prof. Buckley will present to the Joint Committee, will lead to a greater understanding of Down syndrome as a disability, and will provide evidence that Down syndrome is in fact a “low incidence disability” and of the numerous benefits of providing children with Down syndrome the resources they require in education, including Recourse Teaching Hours. Prof. Buckley is Professor Emeritus of Developmental Disability, Department of Psychology, at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom and Chief Scientist of Down Syndrome Education International. Prof. Buckley’s presentation was facilitated by Deputy Pierce Doherty, Deputy Joanna Tuffy Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee and Deputy Ray Butler, member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee. We are extremely grateful to Prof. Buckley for agreeing to make a presentation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection. Meeting between the Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn and President of DSI, Mary Doherty and CEO of DSI, Pat Clarke. A meeting will take place on Tuesday 25th July between the Minister for Education and both the President and the CEO of Down Syndrome Ireland, in relation to the proposal to have Down syndrome recognised as a “low incidence disability” by the Dept. of Education and the provision of Resource Teaching hours to al children with Down syndrome. Mary and Pat together with Patricia Griffin, Education Officer DSI and Nicola Harte, Speech Therapist, DSI will explain how an estimated 200 children with Down syndrome are discriminated against by the Dept. of Education and state that the cost of ending this blatant discrimination against some children with Down syndrome is in the region of €1.2 million per annum. Members of the Oireachtas to receive DSEE Advocates Information Booklet. This week members of the Oireachtas comprising 166 TD’s and 60 Senators will receive a copy of Down Syndrome Education Equality Advocates Information Booklet. ( “Soft copy” of Information Booklet attached to this email). All members of Down Syndrome Ireland who attended the National AGM held in Waterford on Saturday 8th June were also supplied with a copy of the Information Booklet. Down Syndrome Education Equality Advocates Website. The website of the DSEE Advocates should be “live” within the coming weeks. Content of the website will include the Information Booklet, Campaign Video, Campaign Poster, along with updates as to how the campaign is progressing. In the meantime, supporters can keep up to date by following our Facebook Page. We as parents, at the moment are our children’s Advocates until the day that they can hopefully advocate for themselves. This campaign will continue until Down syndrome is included on the Dept. of Education “Low Incidence Disability List” and all children with Down syndrome have an automatic right to the maximum allocation of Resource Teaching Hours. Contact Details Mary Doherty 086 1904450 Louth/Meath Lee Rock 086 1608865 Louth/Meath Sarah Murphy 087 7582331 Wicklow Gina Grant 085 8428694 Donegal Jackie Connolly 085 1312323 Cork Sylvaine Ni Cheallachain 086 8839063 Dublin Irene Walsh 087 1263674 Galway John Brophy 087 1214942 Louth/Meath
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 18:33:14 +0000
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