TORONTO - The parents of roughly one-quarter of children with disabilities believe their child's needs for special education are going unmet, while nearly half say they experience difficulty getting special education for their child, according to a new study.
Survey data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada finds that about 36,600 children with disabilities whose parents believed they need special education did not receive this type of schooling, accounting for about 24.3 per cent of children with disabilities who were attending school.
Nearly half of the children in this group who did not receive special education had severe or very severe disabilities, and nearly two-thirds had undergone a professional assessment of their educational needs.
The survey gathered information on these children through interviews with their parents or guardians.
In the case of many disabilities, such as a learning disability, parents don't know right away that their child is living with one until tests and assessments have been conducted, said Statistics Canada analyst Krista Kowalchuk.
"By the time that the assessments take place and proper provisions are put into place to assist the child there could be a lag," she said from Ottawa. "When we say there are unmet needs that could be the reason why - it is coming, but it just hasn't caught up yet."
Among children who required special education or attended a special school, 49 per cent had parents who reported experiencing difficulty obtaining special education services, with similar proportions among kids enrolled in special education classes and in regular classes.
Nearly two-thirds, or 64 per cent, of parents of children with very severe disabilities reported challenges in getting special education for their child.
This proportion decreased as the degree of disability decreased from severe to moderate. Parents of children with psychological, emotional or behavioural conditions were more likely to report difficulty getting special education for their child.
For most parents, difficulties related to a lack of available special education services and staff, with more than half reporting problems having their child tested for special education services, the report said.
When it comes to educational aids, the majority of children with disabilities had their educational needs met to some degree.
Nearly 62,400 children aged five to 14 with disabilities who were in special classes were using one or more educational aids, which includes tutors, teacher's aides, special computer software and attendant care services.
"In terms of unmet needs for educational aids, it's actually a positive story because 90 per cent of children in special education are using at least one or more aid in their schooling; however, there is still more children who still do require some aids and still have unmet needs for one or more aids," Kowalchuk said.
More than 40 per cent of Canadian children with disabilities aged five to 14 received some form of special education during the 2005-2006 school year - roughly the same proportion as reported in 2000-2001.
The vast majority of the parents questioned reported learning disabilities as the most common condition requiring special education for their children.
The report was based on data from the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey that assessed the educational experiences of children aged five to 14 with activity limitations ranging from learning disabilities to mobility activity limitations.
