Submission to Parliamentary Enquiry into support for autistic children and young people in schools
13th July 2023
I am a parent of a 10-year-old in Year 5 who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) level 2, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). We have not been able to access appropriate supports through the Department of Education (DoE) at a level to help my son engage at school, so we are this term starting home-schooling.
School refusal is a big problem with ASD students, but M used to be compliant going to school. M is smart and wants to learn, he wants to socialise even though it is difficult for him. He doesn’t argue about going to school, even when I can see he is stressed and already guarding himself. However, since he was in Year 1, I have frequently had to collect him early from school due to upsets that the school could not manage, such as dysregulation due to sensory overload (which is expressed in a myriad of different ways), and suicidal ideation. This suicidal ideation has been the focus of much time with his psychologist, and the supportive adults around him. It has been written about extensively in his Safety and Education Plans. However, classroom teachers and EAs continue to ignore the guidance provided in plans, which escalates the already difficult situation. This stems from a lack of understanding of the issues faced by ASD students, and sometimes, an abject refusal to follow such plans.
M has always struggled with school, and we had to change schools at the end of Year 2 as the school was unable to provide EA support for him, despite receiving DoE funding to do so (I had worked with a school psychologist to secure preliminary funding whilst we were awaiting Ms diagnosis). By this time I was required to collect him so often from school that I moved him to a school closer to my workplace. I had hoped this move would ease M’s mind and allow him to settle in each day knowing that I was so close. Unfortunately, it did not help much, and M’s mental health suffered dramatically.
This school was overall better equipped, but I still regularly had conversations with his classroom teachers where they would be perplexed when M would express frustration about other students not following game rules, and similar stereotypically autistic responses. I found that none of the teachers I engaged with had any real working knowledge of Autism and how it can be expressed in children, nor were they aware of strategies to help M and other students with autism. His teacher this year seemed annoyed by his presence in the classroom and did not contact me even once to discuss his progress, his engagement, classroom behaviour, or to ask how to help him.
I am a secondary school teacher and have worked with dozens of students with ASD level 1, 2, or 3. I have found that many strategies that suit students on the spectrum are similarly appropriate for neurotypical students, so it is bewildering to me that so many classroom teachers do not seem to know them or utilise them. The school Administration were certainly far better educated around ASD, and could be passionate advocates for students, but they are limited when classroom teachers do not engage in the supports discussed.
We did have brilliant support from the school’s deputy principal and school psychologist, however working within the current parameters of DoE schools, rendered many potential solutions and supports unworkable. Large class sizes, overly full curriculum demands, increased administrative responsibilities for classroom teachers mean they are less able to devote much needed time to working one-on-one with high needs students like M. The School of Special Educational Needs: Disability (SSEND) were engaged to assist but after attending one meeting provided no support and no further communications were received by the school or myself. I have also tried to access support through the Autism Association but cannot even get on a waitlist for them, despite regularly calling them every few months for over 2 years.
By Year 4, M was regularly taking several days off a week, and I was asked to collect him early on average twice a week. Last term we tried a modified timetable where he would attend from recess until lunchtime and that was mildly successful in that he attended most days and made it through most days. However, there were many days when I had to come back and collect him after just half an hour, or an hour. And of all the hours spent at school, most of those were spent in the deputy’s office, or the bathroom, or hiding in the garden. M said school has become torture for him, and he has now developed a significant distrust for teachers and a fear of the system. I can safely say M has not spent more than 20 minutes in any learning activity at school over the past 2 years.
At this point, I decided to home-school, but the school psychologist made one last suggestion, and so we tried to enrol M into School of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE). That was not successful as they said he doesn’t fit the criteria. They said since he has attended school (albeit hiding in the garden) he doesn’t qualify, and even if he did, he would not be able to attend for more than one term. We were so disappointed. This is a terrible lost opportunity for the Department of Education to retain engagement of students who for similar reasons as M, cannot attend school. By far and large, most children that I know of through social media groups and in my community that are home schooled, are not in face-to-face schooling due to struggles with ASD. Opening SIDE to include neurodiverse students would massively increase the number of students learning under the Department of Education, and help ensure these students gain a thorough and appropriate education which would be a massive benefit to our communities.
There do not seem to be any educational facilities to suit ASD students, unless they present as neurotypical or have an intellectual disability alongside their ASD. My son is high functioning, so Education Support Units as they currently operate, are not appropriate for him. I have also contacted several schools running SSEND’s Specialised Learning Programs https://www.oneclassroom.wa.edu.au/ssend/autism-specialist-learning-programs . They told me my child is not eligible as he has difficulty engaging in mainstream. I had thought these schools were funded for this precise reason, however after reading the FAQ’s for parents: ‘The programs target students who do not have an intellectual impairment with a focus on year level or near year level academic engagement and achievement, organisational skills, social cognition development, positive peer relationships and emotional self-regulation.’ As an experienced high school teacher, I can truthfully say that most neurotypical students do not meet these criteria! This is a terrible waste of funding that should be used to assist those students like my son that are slipping through the gaps, not those which are currently catered for under existing resources. I also contacted dozens of private schools, but none suggested they could support him. The Head of Inclusive Learning, at the school where my eldest neurotypical child currently attends, told me my son would not ‘work’ at their school and they suggested online learning instead. It seems at this private school they only support inclusivity if the child requires no support.
We have tried so hard to find strategies and supports to help M fit into school, but unfortunately nothing available to us has worked. To be able to support my son I have had to leave teaching, a profession I absolutely loved. I am lucky that I was able to gain home-based employment to suit this, however I have lost $65,000 in annual income. This has had a significant impact on my families’ finances, and we will be struggling as a result for many years.
My hope is that after reading this and other submissions, you will consider ways in which to facilitate the reengagement of neurodiverse students back into education. In our post-covid world we now know that there are many ways to get the job done! As a teacher I taught students remotely, and frankly I think many of those students excelled during this period. Students who wanted to achieve academically had the opportunity to work in a quiet comfortable space, away from the noisy distractions that a full classroom brings. As an administrator now, I work at home and log in to all systems remotely. We live in a more flexible environment now and we should be offering these flexibilities to our students, particularly those who are struggling in the existing systems.
Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to following the outcomes of this enquiry.