The decision to fund Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in Northern Ireland marks a turning point in the services available to families with autistic children in the province, a University of Ulster behaviour analyst has said.

Dr Keenan, of the University's School of Psychology and a driving force behind the development of ABA in Northern Ireland, welcomed this week’s news that a east Belfast family had won a legal battle to get full funding for an intensive course of home teaching for their autistic son.

Dr Keenan said the Murray family's victory in gaining funding for ABA treatment for their autistic son Paul, aged seven, was a “breakthrough decision”.

It is believed to be the first time an education and library board has been ordered to pay the full cost of the therapy, which can cost up to £30,000 a year.

"It opens up hope to parents all over Northern Ireland, who have been campaigning and lobbying for public support for ABA to be made available to help their children,” Dr Keenan said.

And Dr Keenan, who has been involved with the parents’ campaign for over seven years, revealed that the University of Ulster is planning a Master's degree in Behaviour Analyis which, he hopes, will go some way to providing much needed highly skilled professionals.

However, the feasibility of this course still depends on attracting funding for additional appropriately skilled lecturers.

"There is a grave need for more professionals fully trained in the highest standards of ABA in Northern Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, there are now eight ABA schools,” he said.

“This week’s decision perhaps marks a turning point for Northern Ireland to catch up with the rest of the world in developing an appropriate ABA infrastructure,” Dr Keenan concluded.

(MB/GMCG)