Survey seeks views on children’s services in Northern Ireland

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is leading a review on support for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and is asking for views on the services they use.

The survey will ask parents and carers what their opinions and experiences are on Allied Health Professions (AHP) support services for children with a statement of special educational needs.

AHP services include occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics, podiatry and orthoptics.

Dr Eddie Rooney, Chief Executive of the PHA, said: “We have gathered views from parents of children in special schools and now we are gathering views from parents of children with statements of SEN who attend mainstream schools.

“The purpose of this review is to look at AHP services and agree the best way of meeting the needs of our children and young people. We want to ensure that we are working in the best way to help improve outcomes for these young people.”

Views are also being sought from teachers and AHP practitioners and all surveys can be carried out online.