Last week in the Seanad I raised on the Adjournment the need for the Government to promote a very promising autism teaching technique called the rapid prompting method. This is a method for gradually teaching a child with autism to point to letters on a letter board to spell out answers. It leads to a child expressing his or her own thoughts by spelling sentences on a letter board and he or she can eventually be taught to spell on a keyboard or iPad that would speak what he or she has written. Thousands of children in the United States have been treated by the method since its introduction 15 years ago. It is a real breakthrough method that assists parents and teachers of children with autism as well. The system gives a child a new way to communicate with others and it is particularly successful for people who have no speech or who have limited speech.

According to the figures from the Department of Education and Skills, approximately one child in every 88 is on the autistic spectrum. With such a high incidence of autism in Ireland, the Department ought to be interested in any promising new education techniques for children affected by autism. I was very disappointed with the response I got when I asked for the Government's response to whether the Department would fund or promote the rapid prompting method. Instead of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, coming to the House to respond to my query, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, delivered a prepared script from the Department of Education and Skills. It was not clear from the Department's prepared script-----

Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?

Yes, I am leading to a question. It was not clear from what the Department said whether it had even heard of the rapid prompting method. I informed the Department of the families whose lives had been transformed and the children who had gone from needing special treatment situations into more mainstream schooling as a result of the very promising method. There are very courageous families who are pushing ahead and they deserve support from the Government. Will the Leader raise the matter with the Government to see if we can get a proper answer on whether the Department has heard of the rapid prompting method and if it will instruct the relevant parties to look into whether it has the potential that has been claimed? Will the Department respond in some way and assist families who are doing their best to assist their children with autism to make progress at home and in school? I would appreciate if a more thorough consideration could be given to the rapid prompting method and I would be very grateful if the Leader would take up the matter with the Minister for Education and Skills on my behalf.