NI Education: Move on educational psychology 'devastating'

Orla Fitzsimons is a mum of three who heads up Parent Action

A parent affected by the announcement that schools will receive fewer visits from educational psychologists said she is "devastated".

The Education Authority has blamed "significant pressures" on the Educational Psychology Service, and a sharp increase in demand for the move.

Orla Fitzsimons is a mum of three who heads up Parent Action NI.

The independent advocacy service was set up to give a voice to parent carers.

Her 15-year-old son was diagnosed with a lifelong disability at the age of two.

She said her family had found the pandemic difficult.

"As a family with a child with disabilities we were already very socially isolated," she said.

"I had already faced years of struggling to get my son his human rights to go to school as well as access to health and social care services," she told BBC News NI.

'Huge impact'

She said that the biggest pressure was on her son's mental health.

"He was never placed in a school during the original lockdown and that had a huge impact on him, myself and my other kids," she added.

• Drop in psychological help for pupils in need

Ms Fitzsimons said her son's distressed behaviour had increased and his mental health had deteriorated very badly.

Her son has been able to start a new school after nine months in lockdown, which he enjoys, but she added that it took a full year for his mental health to begin to recover.

"School is sometimes the only break children with disabilities get - and that was removed overnight".

She added that a lot of adult disability day care services were still not back to normal.

'Underfunded and under-resourced'

She said that support within the education system may be the only help some family carers are getting and educational psychologists are a crucial part of that.

"I and the other parents are devastated to hear this service is going to be reduced yet again," she said.

"The services have been underfunded and under-resourced for decades.

"Parents have been waiting to get access to an educational psychologist for some time because of Covid-19."

She said an educational psychologist was "just like your GP" for parent carers.

"Teachers cannot, and should not have to, put in place the interventions and supports to help my child to access education like his brother and sister.

"That is what educational psychologists are for.

"To remove an already underfunded resource is yet another twist of the knife of the trauma that parents of children with additional needs have had to face over the pandemic."

The Education Authority (EA) said referrals to the Educational Psychology Service had increased from just under 5,000 in 2017/18 to 6,230 in the 2020/21 academic year.

But the number of educational psychologists employed by the EA has fallen from 140 in 2015/16 to 90 in 2021/22.

The EA said that there would not be "a fixed reduction" in visits per school - but that "resources will be spread across Northern Ireland to ensure a level of equity".