United Workers Union Submission to the WA Education and Health Standing Committee Inquiry into support for autistic children and young people in schools
July 2023
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge and respect the continuing spirit, culture, and contribution of Traditional Custodians on the lands where we work, and pay respects to Elders, past and present. We extend our respects to Traditional Custodians of all the places that United Workers Union members live and work around the country.
About United Workers Union
United Workers Union is a powerful union with 150,000 workers across the country from more than 45 industries and all walks of life, standing together to make a difference. Our work reaches millions of people every single day of their lives. We feed you, educate you, provide care for you, keep your communities safe and get you the goods you need. Without us, everything stops. We are proud of the work we do – our paramedic members work around the clock to save lives; early childhood educators are shaping the future of the nation one child at a time; supermarket logistics members pack food for your local supermarket and farms workers put food on Australian dinner tables; hospitality members serve you a drink on your night off; aged care members provide quality care for our elderly and cleaning and security members ensure the spaces you work, travel and educate yourself in are safe and clean.
Education Assistants’ views on current support available for autistic students in WA schools
Education Assistants (EAs) play a critical role in supporting autistic students in WA schools. This submission reflects the views of United Workers Union Education Assistant members related to the Inquiry’s second term of reference: the challenges and successes of current support available for autistic students. Over 500 members shared their experience of supporting students on the frontline through a survey carried out in June.
Education Assistants overwhelmingly communicated that there are concerns with the current arrangements. Only 42% of responding EAs believed that current supports for students with autism met their needs. Among mainstream EAs this falls to 33%. Special needs and advanced special needs EAs were more likely to report that support was sufficient at 44% and 54% respectively. Nearly three quarters (74%) believe their role in the system can be improved. The key concerns raised in this submission include the significant gaps in EA support for students with autism in mainstream schools, a reliance on Mainstream EAs to fill the gaps, suboptimal use of EA time and skills and a growing concern with workforce burnout. These issues are discussed more fully, incorporating commentary directly from the EA workforce. These issues also reflect international research that demonstrate how EAs are burning out from taking on instructional and socialisation roles that in some cases inadvertently undermine inclusion of students with a disability and broader pedagogical instruction (see Teaching assistants in inclusive classrooms: A systematic analysis of the international research by Umesh Sharma and Spencer J Salend in Australian Journal of Teacher Education 2016).
Prevalence of students with undiagnosed autism
Education Assistants have reported that there are increasing numbers of students needing support that are not able to access it as they do not hold a formal diagnosis. They may be in the process of receiving a diagnosis for extended periods of time or are suspected to have autism but have not commenced the
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process as they are in the early years of schooling. This is driven by the cost and availability of the appropriate specialists able to make a diagnosis and the lengthy process involved. As a result, it is common within mainstream classes to have students requiring additional support without access to adequate resources. Mainstream Education Assistants are therefore relied on to fill the gap where there would otherwise be a Special Needs Education Assistant to support the student. The workloads of Mainstream Education Assistants are subsequently growing to unsustainable levels and many are working at higher levels without acknowledgement or recognition. Some EAs also drew attention to the class sizes in mainstream schools in this context of increasing numbers of under-supported students.
“The child I support in kindy is clearly severely autistic, non-verbal, non-toileting and at what I’d estimate to be a level 4 but as yet is still awaiting full diagnosis by Patches. I am required to support him in all aspects of his care 1:1 while he is at school as well as the rest of the class as the class EA. We receive extra EA support when it is available or when a diagnosed student is away. I am currently working with the student’s therapists with Communication device trials and with toilet training requiring a 10 min toilet regime each 45 mins - 1 hour. We currently have 3 other students with referrals in place for assessment of autism also” Mainstream EA
“As a mainstream kindy EA we support the classroom teacher and all students, and most students coming through don’t have a diagnosis. Parents are being told they are too young to be diagnosed or there is a huge waitlist to be seen by specialist or nurse. In a kindy setting we have more than 2 students per class with some form of need, other students get very little off my time because of the demands coming through. Our job has become very stressful and demanding. We use visuals, sensory, and prompting about transition will be taking place in 5 min, stories everyday about how we need to behave, and supporting students to deescalate, all equipment and materials are organised by the teacher and myself.” Mainstream EA
“I work in pre-primary (PP) and often we have students come through undiagnosed with clear indicators of being on the spectrum. Most times diagnosis occurs during the school year and one on one Special Needs (SN) aide time can be appointed to help assist with these students but sometimes it does not occur at all in PP and occurs in years 1 or 2 and I have to stretch myself to cater one on one whilst also conducting group work. Unfortunately, there are times that I see students slipping through cracks because I cannot stretch far enough to adequately support the SN student as well the large group of students also needing targeted support. I take groups for focused and targeted literacy activities and soundswrite. I sit with the SN student for all activities and often shadow them on the playground and outside the classroom. I often have to leave my groups to chase the SN student and bring them back to focus at the activity. There’s no admin support nor teacher support. I am simply expected as the only assistant in the classroom to deal with the SN students and the weaker students also needing my attention. It’s exhausting most days. I have been told that a diagnosis is coming and SN aid time may be able to be accessed later in the year. Every year the schools expectation is that I as a mainstream EA work with and support all SN students that come through in PP.” Mainstream EA
Recommendation: There should a baseline level of EA and SNEA provision regardless of number of students diagnosed, particularly in the early years, to provide support to undiagnosed students.
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Special Needs Education Assistant time allocation is insufficient
Even when students are formally diagnosed, Education Assistants are reporting that the hours allocated to students with a Special Needs Education Assistant is inadequate. Students with autism need support across the full school week but, in practice, time with a Special Needs EA is often limited to as little as 1-3 half days in mainstream schools.
“Many students with autism in mainstream classes. Whilst they get some funded support a few hours a week, the rest of the time I am expected to support their learning and behaviour so that other students are also able to learn uninterrupted” Mainstream EA
“Student in Kindy diagnosed with ASD only has SNEA support allocated for 2 x half days which leaves myself and teacher to support the student along with 19 other students on our own until lunchtime. Student requires constant supervision as he is becoming violent with other students/staff, has many meltdowns whereby student is screaming then crying and does do runners so one of us have to leave our classroom to watch him which means our ratios are not being met (1:10).” Mainstream EA
“Some kids only get an hour or 2 a day with a special needs EA and the rest of the time they’re not getting the help they need. I think they should have someone with them for the entire day especially the high needs kids.” Mainstream EA
The practice of ‘sharing funding’ was also commonly reported, where the funding received by students with a diagnosed student was being utilised to provide resources to other students that had no or a forthcoming diagnosis. The result of this is that both Mainstream and Special Needs Education Assistants are being stretched.
“If a student has funding that should be given to that student not split between other students who do not have any funding. Other staff should be hired to assist the other students who require it.” Mainstream EA
Mainstream EAs are therefore filling the gaps for diagnosed students for the remainder of the week, taking them away from their support for the rest of the class, which is also likely to include other undiagnosed students.
Recommendation: Diagnosed students with autism should receive full week Special Needs EA provision.
Utilisation of EAs is not maximised
Another recurring issue raised by EAs was that their time, skills and knowledge was sometimes not maximised. This was driven by a few factors. One was that class behaviour management (not confined to students with additional needs) was monopolising the focus of Special Needs EAs and taking them away from their focus on students with autism or other needs.
“Sometimes SN EAs are spending more time with students with behavioural difficulties or imputed difficulties rather than with Autistic students” Special Needs EA
“In our school special needs EA time allocated to specific students is unfortunately mostly used on students with behaviour problems which actually brings no funding. I
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work more with behavioural students than I do with autistic or diagnosed students“ Special Needs EA
“Not enough SNEAS and EAs in schools. Many SNEAS are used to deal with behaviour management with students that do not have disabilities. This greatly reduces the time given to students with ASD and other disabilities.” Special Needs EA
Another driver was that some teachers did not have sufficient training or understanding of students with autism leading to them being unable to maximise the use of Education Assistants to support their students. In such cases, Education Assistants felt they were undertaking little more than ‘baby sitting’.
“[EAs] should be supporting the teacher to help the student, not being used to take the student out of the room and occupied or taught separately” Special Needs EA
“Teachers need to provide clear learning and behavioural strategies to support staff to implement. We are not there to ‘look after’ baby sit. Teachers need to be up skilled” Special Needs EA
“[We need] a lot more training for teachers and admin of how to effectively utilise EA skill sets” Special Needs EA
Education Assistants also shared that there was a missed opportunity to utilise their expertise as they were often excluded from the planning, reporting and liaising with parents and other practitioners, despite them working with the individual student most closely. Specifically, Special Needs Education Assistants suggested that they should attend all care plan meetings to advocate for the student, be involved in the development on Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Behaviour Management Plans (BMPs), be a part of meetings with families and other external supports or case conferences – and more generally to be included by the teacher in all decision making. EAs emphasised that this would improve decision making for the student but also ensure better continuity and sharing of information, as often this then does not get shared with them.
“EAs need to be involved in planning, preparation, delivery and reporting. We support the students for hours each day yet are never consulted or involved. It’s demoralising for EAs and a waste of the knowledge we have on the students’ strengths, achievements and areas for growth.” Special Needs EA
“Research shows that for neurodiverse students to succeed a wholistic approach is required. This involves all people that interact with the student to be fully aware of the needs of the student, to this aim education assistants should be involved in planning and implementation of any documented plans. Education assistants play a vital role or primary role in the students’ success. Research has stated that in fact the education assistant is more knowledgeable than the teacher regarding the needs of neurodiverse students.” Special Needs EA
“[We need] time given to SNEAs to work one on one alongside any Occupational Therapist etc to assist student progress. If all who are involved with the student are on the same page then it would be a more rounded holistic support and outcome for the student.” Special Needs EA
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“[We need] closer relationships with Occupational Therapists, speech therapists and physiotherapists and psychologists so that we can carry on with strategies therapists use reinforcing them for the student.” Special Needs EA
Recommendation: Involve EAs in student planning, reporting and liaison and improve training to better utilise EA skill sets. Address resourcing for behaviour management.
Burnout of the Education Assistant workforce
As the lynchpin of the system to support students with autism, we must ensure we retain an energised Education Assistant workforce. Yet Education Assistants are reporting significant degrees of burnout. This is clearly being driven by the shortfalls in support for students with autism and other needs but is also connected to the increasing cases of violence and aggression from students that Education Assistants are experiencing on a daily basis.
“The emotional and physical burn out is one that I have observed in my short career as an SNEA. Education Assistants are expected to complete too many tasks in their 6.5 hours. So many have not been taking their breaks or have been working unpaid. Additionally, too many EAs are having emotional burnout from the increased occurrence in heightened situations but they do not receive support from their school.” Special Needs EA
“The challenge of working in a classroom that not only has an autistic child but multiple students with FAS-D, and Trauma issues, and juggling the needs of these students, whilst trying to provide intervention to students who are behind and dealing with violent and aggressive behaviour towards myself and other students, is exhausting” Special Needs EA
EAs reported the toll of continually managing violence and aggression. Providing adequate support to Education Assistants is vital to safeguarding their wellbeing and retaining them in the sector.
“I believe there should be way more safety measures for Support Staff…We get kicked, bitten, hit, pushed and spat on quite a lot of the time. It is hard to support the students when you don’t feel safe and supported going into work.” Special Needs EA
“Violence in schools is a big problem these days and that is a challenge for us all keeping ourselves safe and our students.” Special Needs EA
“In a previous school I worked with a very violent student and was often left alone with her when she was dysregulated, resulting in injuries and affecting my mental health. When working with a difficult student there should be time to de brief at the end of the day.” Special Needs EA
Another contributor to burnout and high workloads is the inadequate non-contact time for EAs and insufficient time for breaks. Additionally, EAs reported not always being covered when they are on leave, leaving the classroom to ‘make do’ with less.
“[We need] a couple of EAs who rotate around the school throughout the day (prioritising the most challenging students first) and offering the EA in the room a 10-15
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minute brain/mental health break or a break in general. Some students need 24/7 supervision so someone needs to be with the student so that the main EA with the student can have a break“ Special Needs EA
“If we are to be rostered on to supervise Special Needs Students at lunch we should be adequately compensated in time as it is a stressful job and we deserve a break to recharge and attend to personal needs. This would help retain good quality support for autistic students.” Special Needs EA
There was also insufficient planning time or time without the students to discuss and collaborate with the teacher – which prevents providing the best support but also guards against burnout.
“Education Support staff could be better supported to do their role. They need preparation time, it is extremely hard to have everything ready for a special needs child if you are only given 10minutes prior to the student entering the classroom. (This is often the only time to check emails, co-ordinate with the teachers.) Time during the day without these students would also allow for correspondence between EA and specialists, or observation notes to be recorded.” Special Needs EA
“More involvement in the planning of lessons and activities so that adjustments are not made on the run.” Special Needs EA
“Special Needs Education Assistants … should have planning time provided as part of our paid day to make the resources and adequately support our students and the teachers.” Special Needs EA
As outlined earlier, a number of Mainstream EAs are working beyond their Job Description Form (JDF) as they are working directly with diagnosed or imputed special needs students. This is contributing to their burnout especially as they are being under recognised and under supported. Mainstream EAs were calling for better training especially specific to autism and Team Teach, recognition and more general support, in addition to increasing staffing.
“Our contribution to our role goes above and beyond what is in our JDF. We need to be paid better for what we as EAs actually do.” Mainstream EA
“Better pay for the education and skill involved” Mainstream EA
Even among Special Needs EAs, there was a call for more and better training.
“Special needs EAs should be provided with regular professional development in teaching strategies, behavioural management techniques etc to support our autistic students. We attend whole school PD days sitting through sessions with little relevance to us when we could be building important skills that benefit autistic children” Special Needs EA
“SSEN should be a regular, ongoing thing for staff working with students with autism” Special Needs EA
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“All Special Needs EA’s working within schools should have more training and more acknowledgement in particular when working with severe ASD students within main stream schools” Special Needs EA
Recommendations: Address support structures, resourcing, recognition, training and non-contact time to reduce worker burnout.
Conclusion
UWU welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this important inquiry. Education Assistants are a critical component of supports for students with autism in schools and are committed to seeing these students reach their full potential. The experience of EAs show that improvements can be made to the system through improving resourcing shortfalls and putting measures in place to support students without a diagnosis, as well as better utilising EAs and countering their growing levels of burnout.
Summary of recommendations
- There should a baseline level of EA and SNEA provision regardless of number of students diagnosed, particularly in the early years, to provide support to undiagnosed students.
- Diagnosed students with autism should receive full week Special Needs EA provision.
- Involve EAs in student planning, reporting and liaison and improve training to better utilise EA skill sets. Address resourcing for behaviour management.
- Address support structures, resourcing, recognition, training and non-contact time to reduce worker burnout. Non-contact time should be increased in all industrial instruments.
For further information on this submission, contact Susan Belardi at redacted.
redacted
Demi Pnevmatikos National Director – Public Sector
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