Furthering Autistic Children’s Education and Schooling Inc.
Dr Emily Pearce
12“ July 2023
Education and Health Standing Committee Parliament
House 4 Harvest Terrace
WEST PERTH WA 6005
E: laehsc@ parliament.wa.gov.au
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
The prevalence of autism in WA and projected demand for support in schools.
Autism is one of the of the fastest growing areas of disability in WA. While there are some areas of research that suggest correlation between genetic and environmental factors, overall, the increase in prevalence is primarily due to: an increase in understanding of autistic characteristics, specifically the changes in criteria from the DSM-4 and the DSM-5, the manual that is used to determine autism diagnosis. Autism diagnosis is determined by observational criteria and will always have an element of subjectivity. For example, autism cannot be determined by objective measures such as a blood test. However, in the past decade, tremendous advances have been made in both more accurate instruments for diagnosis, as well as methods of training diagnosticians to increase the accuracy of diagnosis.
How will an increase in the prevalence of autism affect the availability of support for autistic students in schools?
As more and more children are diagnosed with autism, we are seeing increasing numbers of children with autism in mainstream classrooms. “It likely that there is an autistic student in almost every classroom in Australia; however, a lack of understanding of autism within the education system means we are failing these students” Autism and education in Australia - Amaze
School educational outcomes for autistic people are far worse than those of the general population. In terms of post school education, autistic people’s outcomes are also worse than those of people with other forms of disability. Autism and education in Australia - Amaze
Almost all autistic children report facing difficulties in their educational experience with negative health outcomes such as trauma, stress and self-harm commonly reported and with residual PTSD effects lasting into adulthood.
Many Autistic students change schools multiple times, with these rates doubling from primary school (24%) to secondary school (44%) as students’ needs remain unmet. Autism and education in Australia - Amaze
Not all students with ASD are the same, which creates additional challenges for teachers when these students are in mainstream classrooms. Because autism is a “spectrum disorder” each child needs different behavioural and educational strategies, and teachers can be easily overwhelmed.
Current support available for autistic students in WA schools, including consideration of how:
Studies found “that in general, teachers only felt slightly confident in their ability to support students with autism. “ The Conversation.com Supporting students with autism in the classroom: what teachers need to know.
For students with ASD to receive appropriate education, modifications to curricula and instruction are necessary; however, these can vary significantly depending on the level of functionality of the individual student. Meeting the needs of these students presents unique challenges for teachers which can be a daunting task without clear guidelines.
The use of flexible and individually tailored educational approaches is crucial. Teachers need adequate support and resource options which can be implemented both in and outside of the classroom environment.
Classrooms are social environments that rely heavily on being able to interact, socialise and communicate with others effectively. For example, a child must be able to respond to their name, answer a teacher’s question, take turns with peers, and manage the “noisiness” of a typical classroom. Further, children with autism struggle to understand non-verbal communication, which can cause many difficulties within a typical classroom. A lack of social emotional competence can lead to not only a decrease in a student’s connection with school, but also academic performance and so a focus on teaching social and emotional skills in addition to academic learning and providing an adequate level of support around these areas is vital to the success of students with ASD. This is especially important in the unstructured “play times’ such as recess and lunch when children with ASD are least supported and most at risk of bullying and isolation, also times when huge amounts of social learning could occur given the right environments.
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Their difficulties with communication skill development can manifest as “social withdrawal” and a “lack of social reciprocity” —failure to engage in conversation and social interactions in a way that is typical—causing them to be isolated from their peers in the classroom during group activities or play Moreover, the verbal outbursts and resistant behaviour that children with ASD might exhibit can cause disruptions in the mainstream classroom for teachers as well as draw negative reactions from the children’s typical peers.
Too often, children with autism who have behavioural outbursts because of frustrations around lack of communication skills and unmet sensory needs are treated as “naughty students” and are punished and/or excluded from education settings. One parent reports that her son “spent most of the year being excluded from the classroom and taught outside of the classroom on the landing area because his behaviours were ‘disrupting the classroom’” “In the end my son refused to go to school as his only motivation to be at school was to be around other children and he felt isolated and excluded from his peers”. Dr Emily Pearce
‘On another occasion P| attempt to communicate he was suffering a migraine was ignored. When he presented
to the office in pain he was asked if he “just wanted to go home to mum” to which he responded honestly “yes” so he was sent back to class. This then resulted in him lying on the floor of the boy’s toilets vomiting in pain eventually to be found by an older child who alerted the deputy principal. This was a clear moment that we felt we could not trust the school! to take his language and communication difficulties into account in real time. This was a low moment for us
and we considered taking | | out of school permanently at this time” Mother Sarah Chester.
“Situations such as this contribute to what is already a difficult task of navigating school refusal” Mother Sarah Chester.
Negative school experiences such as bullying and isolation, in addition to lack of support and educational restrictions are leading to school absenteeism, poor school completion rates and academic underachievement. Bullying and social isolation lead to disengagement and school refusal with many families left with “no option but to homeschool”. There needs to be structured effort to keep autistic students engaged and in the school environment and if they are “not present” the cause leading to disengagement need to be addressed to prevent families having to turn to home schooling.
“My oldest son attends an independent mainstream school. The experience has been mixed. Because he is on medication at school and masks a lot of behaviours, he is not receiving the support he needs, particularly in the area of social interactions. He does not have any friends” FACES parent.
Desperation among parents to find suitable schooling options is all too common with many being forced to turn to home schooling.
“| was a business owning veterinarian who had worked hard to establish a successful career. After moving schools,
constant school refusal and unmanageable behavioural issues due to the lack of appropriate support | was forced to
sell my business and home school my son; an option not in the best interest of either my son or myself”. Dr Emily
Pearce
“The decision was made to return to Perth, Western Australia (which is where my son was born and husband was raised), so we could provide him with what we thought would be a much better level of support, especially in terms of schooling and education and addressing his therapy requirements in support of his developmental goals. So far, neither of those expectations have been met. The last 2 % years have been exceedingly difficult and filled with doubt, frustration, and desperation — which is a word we have heard quite frequently from parents of children with autism here in the community — desperate. Desperate to find a paediatrician (without having to go to another state) desperate to find therapy- occupational and speech that specializes in an approach that caters to children with autism and desperate to find a school that will understand the needs of their child with autism.” Mother Karen Cohen
Evidence-based practices are implemented across the school system.
At the moment, the use of evidence-based practices is inconsistent across schools in WA. Too often, access to adequate support appears to be a matter of chance; relying heavily on the knowledge and skill of individual teachers who have adjusted their practice to accommodate the needs of autistic students. This is because of a lack of appropriate training for teachers, and a lack of understanding of autism, particularly around the behavioural aspects of autism.
The focus on behaviours often overwhelms the need for education. Too often success for a child with autism is measured by the level of compliance, i.e., a child that doesn’t disrupt the classroom. One teacher reported “ ‘Naughty children’ are being placed in support units because teachers do not have the skills and or resources to give the support required and as a consequence many of these children are not getting access to the mainstream academic curriculum despite being academically capable. Then there are the ‘well behaved’ students with autism who are not disruptive and thus not viewed as needing extra support but are getting left behind academically.”
Teacher Kirsten Williams
“The extremely low expectations placed on many children with autism to perform academically means that sometimes it seems more like babysitting than school”. Teacher Kirsten Williams
And parents are reporting similar stories.
‘We don’t believe {J is getting the education he is entitled to, but we have learnt to focus our attention on whether he is happy and we celebrate the small stuff. We are also committed to accepting the day when going to school causes more harm than good for [J and taking on his education at home.” Mother Sarah Chester.
“Inclusive education does not exist in our opinion. The education system merely tolerates and manages Autistic children rather than truly ensuring they access the education they are entitled to. Autistic identity is not celebrated or even accounted for and the contributions that ND students could make to the school system are not explored. We know the education system can do better and WA has some international leaders in the autism space that need to be listened to. Autistic children need to be given a space to belong alongside their peers but without losing a positive identity and being forced to change who they are” Mother Sarah Chester.
“Our son is currently in a little local school, which is a safe space for him, but offers no real learning, especially for a child with a disability.
Perhaps some would say that this is all we can hope for- a safe space for our child with a disability, but we do hope for more. When it comes to our son, we hope for much more for him. We hope for more for his future. We want for him to thrive, to be a functioning, contributing, included and embraced part of society and his community and the only way for that to be a possibility is through schooling and education. Education based on principals that understand the needs of children with Autism and educators that understand that children with autism are trying to function in a world that makes very few allowances for them — and this must change.” Mother Karen Cohen
Teachers lack training in how to work with students with ASD in their mainstream classrooms, lack collaboration opportunities with their special education colleagues to better support their students with ASD, and are not provided sufficient resources by their schools and programs to create an appropriate inclusive environment in their mainstream classrooms.
Improvements in professional development offerings for in-service general educators on how to teach students with ASD are recommended, such as providing broader training programs that give teachers the opportunity to practice interventions and teaching plans for inclusive classrooms and receive feedback from the training instructor(s). Furthermore, certain additions to the curriculum of pre-service university education programs for teachers are suggested.
“We requested that the school spend his funding providing this particular teacher with training and they did in fact send her to a 2-day course. Following her attendance, she expressed to me that she “had no idea” what he was experiencing every day and how this was so challenging for him. This took place well into the school year rather than
prior to | | being placed in her class and effectively after the damage had been done to the relationship. This is just
one example of the lack of planning we have experienced, despite funding and despite the school having multiple Autistic students in every year group.” Mother Sarah Chester.
Too often autistic students are left with the least educated staff such as educational assistants, who while well meaning have the least amount of training to deal with children with the highest needs.
“My son spent most of his day with an EA who had no training in dealing with children with autism and had never worked with an autistic child. While a lovely lady, many of her actions, such as constantly cuddling my son who had sensory issues and was touch averse, would just make his behaviours worse not better”. Dr Emily Pearce
Teacher training alone is not sufficient; teachers will require additional specialist support if they are to meet the needs of autistic students. “Fewer than half (38%) of Australian teachers feel prepared to teach students with special
needs when they finish their formal training”. Most Australian teachers feel unprepared to teach students with
special needs (theconversation.com)
Most universities only require that university students studying to become mainstream teachers take a few classes in special education; therefore, most teachers start their careers with less to no training in the field of autism. This lack of training at the college level often leaves the teachers ill-equipped to deal with the diverse needs of their autistic students.
“Currently, there are course and unit objectives regarding supporting diverse learners in university teacher education programs. However too little time and attention is spent on these areas. There are many reasons for this, however, one problem is the lack of experts with these skills within WA.” Dr Cindy Smith, School of Education Curtin University
More effective professional development for teachers at both the in service and preservice level. To do this there needs to be more collaboration between schools, government, and university teacher education programs. Currently there are not enough educators with the specific expertise needed to support children with autism. We must utilise the knowledge and research from other areas of the world, if we are going to support WA children and families with autism. Effective professional learning for educators must be ongoing. Attending a one-hour lecture, for instance,
does not qualify a teacher to support children with autism. Educators need ongoing professional development with practical support from experts. Dr Cindy Smith, School of Education Curtin University
Research is clear that the most effective professional learning is when it is connected to hands-on practical training. Currently teacher training is often separated into theoretical classroom learning without adequate connection to practicum placements in the real-world classrooms. More practical training with ongoing support is essential with opportunities for teachers to practice the interventions they have learned and obtain feedback prior to being expected to successfully apply such practices in the classroom. Specialist schools could also be learning “hubs” where practical experience is gained by mainstream teaching staff, especially important when transitioning students from a specialised environment back into mainstream school.
Accountability is critical. The implementation of clear and measurable systems to measure not only academic learning but also student engagement and social learning along with timelines, reporting and constant review of these measures are essential and part of achieving genuine change.
School supports are coordinated with other service areas to respond to the needs of autistic students and their families.
“For teachers to successfully implement interventions for students with ASD in the mainstream setting, collaboration between general and special education teachers, university teacher education programs and other allied health professionals is essential’. Dr Cindy Smith, School of Education Curtin University
“Each year is a completely different experience from the year before and each year we start the year with trepidation. It’s as though we are reinventing the wheel with regards to how ii is managed at school both socially/emotionally and academically every year. Techniques that are developed one year in collaboration with the school psychologist or a committed teacher are abandoned the next when staff change, or the next years teacher is not as engaged” Mother Sarah Chester.
More collaboration with allied health professionals and university teacher education programs is essential to solve this problem.
“Currently there is a disconnect between health care and educational professionals of people who work with children
with autism” Dr Cindy Smith, School of Education Curtin University
Teachers are already time-poor and overburdened. The unique challenges of teaching children with autism highlights the need for autism services to be available within schools, including appropriate teacher training and effective collaboration with allied health professionals such as speech pathologists and occupational therapists.
Currently funds are divided according to community/social engagement and educational outcomes. However, with children with autism, these skill areas are highly interrelated. Social skills are not needed just for children to be able to play with peers or interact in their community. These same skills are essential for a child to be able to function effectively within the educational environment. The interaction of these needs are not recognised, and professionals are expected to address behavioural and educational needs separately. Children with autism are often taken out of school to attend sessions with allied health professionals such as speech pathology or OT, resulting in a loss of important instructional time and causing further ‘differences” for autistic students to their peers. Understanding the interrelatedness of these skills and the importance of collaboration between professionals would help alleviate this problem.
Collaboration and consultation with parents is essential. Parents of children with autism, have extensive knowledge and understanding about their own children. However, they are often left out of the discussion when specific goals and strategies are developed. Involving parents would not only promote student support, particularly to help to generalize skills across the educational, home and community environments, but it would also provide important support for parents who currently experience a high level of stress. Further, collaboration with parents regarding academic curriculum would allow parents to support academic achievement. Currently, parents often report an unwillingness of schools to collaborate with parents and allow them ways to support their child’s academic progress.
There needs to be a variety of options surrounding school settings. For some students, specialist teachers with a greater understanding of autism and the teaching methods best suited to neurodiverse students will provide the best option. In such schools, student to teacher ratios are generally much higher giving the teachers the time they require to ensure students have individualised programs structured to address student deficits and understand students strengths and interests. In such specialised environment, staffed by autism-specialist teachers the individual learning styles and needs of each student can be addressed and collaboration with other service providers tends to be more commonplace to ensure expectations are consistent for each child with regard to behaviour and learning strategies. At present there is often a disconnect between other service providers such as speech and occupation therapists leading to a system that has different outcomes and expectations for a child leading to poor outcomes, low productivity, and anxiety in the child and for families. Such specialist autism schools can play in helping autistic students transition into mainstream schools. Under this model, special schools are just one part of a “specialised, comprehensive, multifaceted approach’: The approach to education for students on the autism spectrum needs to be flexible, align to the student’s specific autistic learning styles and needs, and involve a continuum of special education services that is inclusive of their strengths and abilities.
“In July of 2022 we discovered the FACES program and since then have been very fortunate to have our son in afternoon sessions for 3 days a week. At this point in time if it were not for FACES we would be looking at options that would involve us leaving Perth for another state that has more to offer our son particularly in education and schooling, so that he is given a chance and the opportunity to reach his full potential. Other than FACES, nothing currently exists in this space of providing schooling, education and support to children with autism in Western Australia. The statistics of those children with autism who are home schooled in Western Australia simply because they struggle to find an appropriate school or any school at all — are staggering and frankly devastating.” Mother
Kare Cohen
Dr Emily Pearce
Chairperson FACES Inc
( Mum)
Our story may not start like a lot of others but certainly we are now experiencing what many other families with children with Autism have been experiencing for many years in Perth.
We returned to Australia in January of 2021, one year after receiving an ASD and GDD diagnosis for our son in January 2020, which was facilitated through the Autism Association of Western Australia (AAWA). At the time we were living and working in – an island country in the eastern , which we felt did not offer the services and resources to adequately support and assist our son with his disability. At 4 years of age he was non-verbal, had very weak fine motor and gross motor skills and we struggled to find an educational institution in that had knowledge, experience or skills working with children on the spectrum. Our experience seeking appropriate therapy supports was equally disappointing.
The decision was made to return to Perth, Western Australia (which is where my son was born and husband was raised), so we could provide him with what we thought would be a much better level of support, especially in terms of schooling and education and addressing his therapy requirements in support of his developmental goals. So far, neither of those expectations have been met. The last 2 ½ years have been exceedingly difficult and filled with doubt, frustration and desperation – which is a word we have heard quite frequently from parents of children with autism here in the community – desperate. Desperate to find a paediatrician (without having to go to another state) desperate to find therapy- occupational and speech that specializes in an approach that caters to children with autism and desperate to find a school that will understand the needs of their child with autism.
In July of 2022 we discovered the FACES program and since then have been very fortunate to have our son in afternoon sessions for 3 days a week. At this point in time if it were not for FACES we would be looking at options that would involve us leaving Perth for another state that has more to offer our son particularly in education and schooling, so that he is given a chance and the opportunity to reach his full potential. Other than FACES, nothing currently exists in this space of providing schooling, education and support to children with autism in Western Australia. The statistics of those children with autism who are home schooled in Western Australia simply because they struggle to find an appropriate school or any school at all – are staggering and frankly devastating.
Our son is currently in a little local school, which is a safe space for him, but offers no real learning, especially for a child with a disability.
Perhaps some would say that this is all we can hope for- a safe space for our child with a disability, but we do hope for more. When it comes to our son, we hope for much more for him. We hope for more for his future. We want for him to thrive, to be a functioning, contributing, included and embraced part of society and his community and the only way for that to be a possibility is through schooling and education. Education based on principals that understand the needs of children with Autism and educators that understand that children with autism are trying to function in a world that makes very few allowances for them – and this must change.
Dear Committee Members
Ours son is 10 years and 5 months old, is in year 4 at school and was diagnosed as being Autistic in late 2020 when he was in year 1. At the time had a wonderful mature teacher who was nurturing and kind but also engaged enough to bring out the best in him academically. If he needed to lay on the floor to do his writing, she would let him. If he wanted to draw and label his drawing instead of doing sight words she would find a way to include those sight words. If he needed a break or to eat during a lesson he was allowed to. She was pivotal in achieving his diagnosis and provided him with a successful year 1 year.
is verbal and very social however he has language/communication challenges and is highly sensitive to his environment. He is independent and cognitively has no deficits or learning
disabilities has been assessed to fall within the High Average range of intelligence. is
number 6 of 7 children.
diagnosis was no surprise to us as he was diagnosed with a developmental language disorder by 18 months and had required continual support to access playgroup, kindy and pre-primary. These years require additional support staff so despite needing accommodations they seemed to be smoother for .
Initially attended junior in for his pre-kindy and Kindy years. The staff were
supportive and kind and accommodated him well. The teaching and support staff were all mature women with children of their own and the activities and environment was nurturing, and he was rarely stressed or overwhelmed. is inquisitive and adventurous and loves new experiences and people.
Towards the end of his kindy year at he was assessed by the State Child Development service and the Paediatrician advocated for him to repeat Kindy as his social skills and maturity still needed time to develop. He was also in attendance at Telethon Speech and Hearing during these years and they too supported the opinion that would benefit from repeating Kindergarten.
The Deputy Principal at Junior at the time refused this request despite care team
advocating for him. No explanation was provided despite multiple requests for reconsideration, and
we were forced to make the decision to withdraw from and enrol him at the local
primary school in as the principal was willing to take for a repeat Kindergarten
year. Other parents in the special needs community had expressed that it was rare for a school to allow an existing student to repeat despite heath professionals’ recommendations. So rather than fight the system we adjusted our course. This would be the first of many hurdles we have had to navigate.
has attended Primary School since 2018. He has never been suspended and we have never been asked to keep him home. Although having IEPs at various points he has never been placed on a behaviour management plan or the like. He is mostly liked at school as he has a friendly personality and likes to make people laugh. Each year is a completely different experience from the year before and each year we start the year with trepidation. It’s as though we are reinventing the wheel with regards to how is managed at school both socially/emotionally and academically every year. Techniques that are developed one year in collaboration with the school psychologist or a committed teacher are abandoned the next when staff change or the next years teacher is not as engaged.
We have discovered, despite there being multiple autistic children at Primary in each year, that there is a lack of continuity in relation to the level of Professional Development or additional training each teacher has. We have found that younger teachers have some Autism training and the more experienced teachers often have none. For example, one of teachers, who had 24 years’ teaching experience had never undertaken any additional PD. We discovered this when she told to “get out from under the table and stop crying, we don’t do that here” when he became distressed in his first week of year 2. She proudly noted that he did as he was told, showing a complete lack of insight into the level of distress and anxiety, he was under at the time and how this then affected his willingness to attend school for months afterwards.
On another occasion attempt to communicate he was suffering a migraine was ignored. When he presented to the office in pain he was asked if he “just wanted to go home to mum” to which he responded honestly “yes” so he was sent back to class. This then resulted in him lying on the floor of the boy’s toilets vomiting in pain eventually to be found by an older child who alerted the deputy principal. This was a clear moment that we felt we could not trust the school to take his language and communication difficulties into account in real time. This was a low moment for us and we considered taking out of school permanently at this time.
Situations such as this contribute to what is already a difficult task of navigating school refusal.
We requested that the school spend his funding providing this particular teacher with training and they did in fact send her to a 2 day course. Following her attendance, she expressed to me that she “had no idea” what he was experiencing every day and how this was so challenging for him. This took place well into the school year rather than prior to being placed in her class and effectively after the damage had been done to the relationship. This is just one example of the lack of planning we have experienced, despite funding and despite the school having multiple Autistic students in every year group.
This particular year we withdrew for almost 2 terms and attempted to transition him to Community School in the hope the environment would better suit our child. Despite the school providing a wonderful nature-based program and facilities and claiming to be inclusive to ND children they do not provide EA support or adjust any part of their program to accommodate the needs of an Autistic child. They used ipads at almost every core class and follow a structure of 20 minute activities or tasks which clearly provides challenges for an autistic person who struggles with transitions. management informed us that they did not receive special funding and despite the private school fees paid by parents they did not have the funding for EAs. They emphatically stated that they are committed to their vision for the school and don’t adjust their program. We
eventually enrolled back at Primary School for the remaining weeks of 2021, which
was somewhat soul destroying for and he still talks about to this day. This is when we began to question the use of the word “inclusive” when used in the context of education.
Upon enrolment back at the principal requested a meeting during which she asked me how I could guarantee it would work having back at the school. We found this to show a complete lack of insight into the basic human rights a child has to education and reflective of the attitude afforded to kids with Autism in general. That they can be here but we will do the bare minimum to accommodate them and they can’t cause too much of a disruption.
Frustratingly we have also found that teachers often have not read his diagnostic reports or implemented recommendation that would help make his day more tolerable or facilitate him
accessing education better. We have hired 2 OTs to attend at the school (at considerable expense) to make recommendations and provide support, little if any of the advice has been actioned. Additionally, none of these reports or recommendations are provided to his specialist teachers (sport, music, art etc) or relief teachers. The onus is entirely on us as parents to ensure staff are informed or solutions/suggestions are provided.
Decisions the school makes with regards to class placement and EA allocation are not transparent and provide little opportunity for negotiation or discussion. Parents of Autistic children are told of placements for the following year, 2 weeks before school finishes at most. No consideration is given to ensuring the Autistic children are given time together to encourage positive identity rather the approach appears to be one of managing the logistics of the EA schedule and making life easier for the teaching staff. I have had to point out Language used in documents that is clearly culturally inappropriate like “behaviour modelled by more able peers” or statements that show lack of insight into how Autistic people see authority like “not to show respect to his teachers”.
The techniques used at school to manage do not provide him with the opportunity to access the same level of education as the other children. The curriculum is not tailored to accommodate his learning needs such as adjusting a subject to be interesting to him in order for him to engage. Some of his school years it appears he is being supervised using ipads and distraction rather than being educated. In fact, I have had several of the school staff (who will remain anonymous) tell me is not accessing education rather that he is being managed so he does not cause a disturbance for other children and that despite us not giving permission for ipad use his file states to use the ipad as a reward or distraction.
The EA staff at times have caused more distress for than support as they lack the training or the understanding required. For example, one of EAs constantly hovered and instructed him during creative work which caused him distress day in and day out as this was not allowing him the autonomy, he requires to complete tasks. If the EA was in the room at the beginning of the day he would refuse to go to school. Another EA consistently used the ipad as an incentive to do the most basic of requests which led to developing addictive behaviours around ipads and complete refusal to do any tasks unless given one. This situation required the intervention by the school psychologist and a strategy being developed to wean him off the ipad. The following year the strategy was ignored despite the new teacher being provided with handover instructions.
We have experienced a complete absence of transparency with relation to the funding the school receives and how that money is spent not just at but at other schools we have consulted. Parents are told that the funding must be pooled together as some children don’t have a diagnosis yet or aren’t funded. Some schools have denied they receive funding or that it is token amounts compared to what the public schools receive. This system does not seem fair given the extreme cost a diagnosis is for most families to attain. Given the additional funding schools do receive to provide for Autistic children we believe that more collaboration and ultimately control should be provided to families.
Despite our frustrations with the schools we have been enrolled with we have experienced some wonderful teachers and staff who have made the journey for bearable. We have decided that making the most of a community that knows our child and for the most part accepts him is a huge benefit to him. We don’t believe is getting the education he is entitled to but we have learnt to focus our attention on whether he is happy and we celebrate the small stuff. We are also committed to accepting the day when going to school causes more harm than good for and taking on his education at home.
Inclusive education does not exist in our opinion. The education system merely tolerates and manages Autistic children rather than truly ensuring they access the education they are entitled to. Autistic identity is not celebrated or even accounted for and the contributions that ND students could make to the school system are not explored. We know the education system can do better and WA has some international leaders in the autism space that need to be listened to. Autistic children need to be given a space to belong alongside their peers but without losing a positive identity and being forced to change who they are.