English

National Survey· 6 of 11

School Experience: Disability Support

A student hunched over a desk writing alone at the front of an empty classroom

Photo Credit: @jeswinthomas

Significant findings:

  • 65% of respondent children were professionally assessed for special or exceptional needs.
  • 13% of schools have special needs documentation for children who were not professionally diagnosed.
  • 16% of schools have trained staff for mental health or school attendance challenges.
  • More than half of respondents were blamed or criticized when their child was having difficulty attending school.

Response from parents about children with special needs

Grouped bar chart of parents’ yes and no answers about children with special needs: professional assessments 335 yes; staff trained in mental health and school attendance challenges 86 yes, 427 no; judged for inability to attend 347 yes; diagnosed with special needs 352 yes; parents blamed 260 yes, 253 no; documentation for diagnosed children 289 yes; documentation for undiagnosed children 21 yes, 140 no

  • 335 (of 519) students had professional assessments
  • 427 (of 519) students were in schools with staff that were not familiar with or trained in mental health and school attendance challenges
  • 347 (of 519) students were judged for their inability to attend school
  • 352 (of 519) were diagnosed with special needs
  • 260 respondents (parents) were blamed for their child’s difficulties in attending school
  • 289 (of 519) students had special needs documents

Have you had your child assessed for academic or psychological challenges?

Two donut charts: 352 children (68.62%) are diagnosed with special needs and 161 (31.38%) are not; 335 (65.3%) have professional assessments and 178 (34.7%) do not

Sixty-nine percent of respondents had children who were diagnosed with special needs.

Sixty-five percent of respondents had professional assessments.

Is there documentation in the school about your child’s special needs? (for example, an Individual Education Plan, a designation for special needs through the IPRC – Identification and Placement Review Committee)?

Two donut charts: 289 schools (82.1%) have special needs documentation for diagnosed children and 63 (17.9%) do not; only 21 (13.04%) have documentation for undiagnosed children and 140 (86.96%) do not

Most respondents had special needs documentation. Most respondents indicated that their child’s school did not have special needs documentation for undiagnosed students.

Does your child have school staff who are familiar with and trained in mental health and school attendance challenges?

Only 16.76% of respondents indicated that their child’s school staff was familiar with and trained in mental health and school attendance challenges.

Donut chart: does the child have school staff familiar with and trained in mental health and school attendance challenges; 86 yes (16.76%), 427 no (83.24%)