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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (15 February) . . Page.. 15 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

to occur. Speech therapy, in particular, is extremely necessary for some high-need students and was found to be particularly inadequate. It was pointed out to the committee that if basic communication is not possible a great deal of frustration is experienced by the persons concerned. I am talking about things as basic as toileting, wanting a drink, wanting to eat and being uncomfortable for any reason.

It is not surprising to see behavioural issues arising when people are not able to communicate their feelings on those things. That becomes a major issue as students get older. We had our attention drawn over and over to the situation of parents trying to care for older students, particularly boys. An 18-year-old who is physically strong and is very frustrated is difficult for parents to manage and, of course, for teachers to manage if in the school system.

Yet another issue of importance that came out was the management of students with emotional behavioural problems. Often, they do not necessarily qualify as having a disability of any kind, but there are big implications for the people who are caring for them. The committee has made a number of recommendations about dealing with violent behaviour. The report highlighted some very disturbing evidence that came to the committee about the incidence of violence in certain situations. The committee has said clearly that the current situation is quite unacceptable and there has to be urgent action from the Government in response to this matter because it is putting at risk students who are with the child who is exhibiting violent behaviour and putting at risk teaching staff as well.

The situation is quite horrendous for everybody involved and we do have a responsibility to ensure that programs and responses are available to deal with these issues. Obviously, the issue of training is part of this discussion. Teachers and staff generally in education facilities need to be supported by appropriate training on how to deal with these sorts of problems. There is also a need for specific programs to be developed, as the committee has recommended.

The committee made comment about assessment of the satisfaction of parents. According to the assessment methodology that is used, most parents of children with a disability were very happy with the education that the children were receiving, but they were not able to comment within that methodology on the therapy services because they were seen to be a health issue, not an education issue. That is pretty insulting and has upset a lot of the parents. Clearly, you cannot separate therapy from education if you are talking about children who need speech therapy because they cannot speak. You would think that it would be a fairly basic part of their educational experience. We have made comment on how that is working. The assessment needs to be revised and refined.

We also made a general comment about the training of staff. The inclusion of children with a disability into mainstream schools means that more teachers are now dealing with those students, but they are not necessarily trained or qualified to do it. We want to see the department and the Government take a strong interest in this matter and offer incentives to teachers to upgrade their qualifications. If teachers are not assisted in this way, inclusion can be a very stressful experience for the students, the teachers, the parents and everyone else involved. The Government is supporting the concept of

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