The prevalence of autism in WA and projected demand for support in schools.
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What factors are affecting the prevalence of autism in WA? The prevalence od Autism has increased exponentially in the past ten years. Although Telethon kids quote that every 1 in 100 has a diagnosis in autism, in government schools this has increased to almost 1 in 50. There are very few classrooms in our schools that do not have at least 1 student diagnosed with autism and frequently many undiagnosed – particularly in regional settings where services are limited or the waitlists are up to 2 years. We do need a clearer picture of the prevalence of autism in our schools to ensure we are developing system supports and evidence based interventions to include all students and promote a strengths based approach in ensuring increased outcomes for students with autism to the same level as their peers – every student a successful student!!
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Is autism more prevalent across certain demographics than others? I have worked in every region across WA for 33 years – many remote, regional and metro scenarios –
autism is the same in all areas. Only difference is, in regional and remote areas it often goes
undiagnosed due to lack of practitioners and availability of assessment.
There is an increased awareness and improved diagnostic practices that lead to better identification and diagnosis of individuals with Autism. This means that there has been a higher prevalence rate of diagnosis
DSM 5 has widened the diagnostic criteria, particularly in the social communication area and that seems to have an effect on diagnosis as has the link between ADHD and autism with many similarities in the diagnosis criteria.
Race can have a huge impact on seeking a diagnosis in some cultures as it has the perception of shame for a child diagnosed; therefore impacting some races not to seek a diagnosis of autism. In Australia, many international visa holders do not seek a diagnosis either concerned that they will not achieve residency in Australia if a child is diagnosed with autism. These reasons do have a significant impact for the prevalence in some ethnicities.
- How will an increase in the prevalence of autism affect the availability of support for autistic students in schools?
There is not enough training for uni students in the field of autism – whether they are special education graduates or mainstream graduates. Many links have been made with universities to rectify this, however little change has occurred thus far. Changes are slowly occurring but it will be awhile before we see any benefits in schools. New Graduates are coming into the workforce ill prepared for what they are about to encounter and this in turn puts even more pressure on schools/staff to support everyone = burnout – hence the retainment of good staff is becoming more difficult to uphold.
We therefore have the issue of early career teachers in classrooms in which there are students with ASD without any understanding of how to support them. This requires significant support from the Administration of the school and from external agencies. School of special educational needs – disability (SSEND) have consulting teachers to come out to support schools but the skillset and services offered by SSEND is becoming more and more diluted with lack of skill in their workforce and so many schools requiring support that their waitlist and processes are long.
Most students with autism are in mainstream schools, although a percentage of students are in ed support centres /schools and specialised learning programs (SLPs). Most ed support centres are at full capacity, and many staff now do not have the correct education support training to fully support the highly complex and often comorbid diagnosis of students in these centres.
SLPs have been opened in many metro areas and ain one regional area; however there are not enough of these programs and they cater for a specific clientele. They only take between 20-25 students. The issue with the SLPs is that they have very little consistency in the program and the level of delivery, the lack of staff training and availability of it is also a huge issue for SLP validity.
The resourcing received for students with autism is generally insufficient to meet the complex teaching and learning adjustments required to fully support students. This is often detrimental to the learning of other students and the burnout of teachers dealing with many complexities of multitudes of student’s needs.
Not only is the lack of teacher training an issue but also the lack of any training specifically targeted for special needs EAs. Graduate teacher modules now spend day 4 doing team teach and de-escalation training instead of learning the basic autism practices to support students.
- Current support available for autistic students in WA schools, including consideration of how: a. evidence-based practices (EBP) are implemented across the school system; Evidence based practices are not widely understood nor implemented with fidelity and validity. There is very little training available around EBP and staff require far more support to fully comprehend:
What are EBP’s What are effective autism EBP’s Which EBP’s and strategies are relevant to the context and diagnosis to our students How are EBP effectively implemented into schools (coaching, modelling – gradual release model is most effective but also most time and human resource consuming) How do we take effective data to implement correct interventions for students with complex behaviours How do we implement these EBP’s with validity and fidelity?
SLPs do not implement EBP well and are so heavily resourced. Some schools do have extensive knowledge and expertise surrounding EBPs but other competing priorities in a heavy curriculum often make this unachievable.
Training is not mandatory and via a referral for assistance from SSEND (statewide services) there is oprional PL available; however the quality is substandard and the amount of time required to attend these PLs (approximately 15 hours for 5 ASD modules) is not conducive to schools who are so heavily committed in other areas. SSEND have made them mandatory to do in order, which with a high staff turnover is not always feasible with multiple staff at various levels. The PL does not provide workable strategies to support staff.
There are many practices in schools that are not EBP and some EBP that are not supported, not understood and provided with poor press (Applied Behaviour Analysis) and not widely available (TEACCH).
b. school supports are co-ordinated with other service areas to respond to the needs of autistic students and their families.
- What are the challenges and successes for implementing evidence-based practices across the school system? What is the interaction between school supports and other service areas that autistic students are accessing? What is the interaction between State and Commonwealth funded services? Support available for autistic students in WA schools may include: o services o practices o strategies. The WA school system includes schools in locations that are: o metropolitan o rural o regional o remote.
As previously stated – one of the biggest issues we have is the lack of training to support the implementation of EBP – both the availability and the lack of quality trainers. Current support is severely lacking, more funding and facilities are required for mainstream, ed support and endorsed programs to support students with autism. This would assist with targeted resources for students with autism, higher level of training to ALL staff, including specific job related education assistant training. Teachers need to have a sound knowledge of any program to be able to effectively adjust it to meet the student’s needs.
Current training is limited and not effective – internships and autism leap is delivered too intensely (2 week period) with very little coaching to model and assist implementation – not conducive to adult learning principles. It also depends on the facilitator. Although School of Special Education: Disability (SSEN:D) does offer training is tends to be aimed at high functioning student within a mainstream setting. To get training that is of value to support students with complex needs is often extremely difficult.
Existing support from Statewide Services needs a major review as there has been a large number of key staff (leaders/experts in the area of Autism) that have left Statewide(School of Special Education Needs, Disability), who have the knowledge (and contextual knowledge of schools and how they currently operate), and expertise to lead reform in this area. The existing leadership have far less experience and knowledge in the area of supporting students with Autism in schools. SSEND leadership is very limited in their understanding in autism practices and this is transparent in the current level of available PL.
For a school to access support, the current process is extremely time-consuming, often schools need to retell the issues to multiple people to obtain relevant support - often by staff who are on breaking point themselves in complex situations - and often staff who are liaising with the school do not have the expertise to effectively support. Current SSEND support to schools is reactive and reflects a medical model of triaging. Other states (and past models of support to schools in WA) was and is more effective and proactive. The effectiveness of support that is provided to schools is very inconsistent due to the nature of the current service model, including the expertise and experience of those staff who come out to support
the school. There are better, more proactive models of support that the Education Department could and should adopt. The Geraldton Lighthouse model is an example of this – a $2.6 million project that is aimed at supporting schools to capacity build all staff in best, effective EB practices for students with autism through a 3 tiered approach. It is autonomous and able to be supported within schools with current practices. It aligns with QTS and PBS. This will be presented at the upcoming WAPPA conference in August/Sept. Like most projects in the Department, it was funded as a pilot program and is working well ; however the 2 program coordinators who developed and implemented this model completed their 2 year project and were not supported to continue the model. The project is wavering somewhat; other schools are wanting to take on the model but have been left waiting with limited support. The schools involved in the project are still progressing. This model is proactive; however, not supported by SSEND any further.
SA is employing and providing training for an Autism Inclusion teacher in every PS in the state (training provided by Positive Partnerships – Federal Government funded PL). They have appointed these teachers and kept the same level of support as in consultants to support schools their district and state offices. https://www.education.sa.gov.au/parents-and-families/health-and-disability-support/improving-support-children-and-students-autism
Accessing funding for schools that have students with Autism is again a laborious process that is very much dependent on how skilled (using the ‘buzz’ language) the school staff member is at detailing the information in the checklist though the Disability Resourcing System (DRS). Again, other states such as SA, have a more efficient process. The DRS has not had a thorough review in many years. The Education Department’s current offerings of Professional Learning on Autism, namely ASD modules are poorly designed and presented with very surface level information.They are not designed on adult learner principles, have contemporary language, utilise a strength-based approach nor strongly reflect the autistic voice. The ASD PL modules that the Education Department heavily promotes is no reflective of effective PL, rather a ‘tick a box’ and research shows that doing these one off PLs with no follow up tasks built in is the least effective way to develop people’s knowledge. There is far better PL for schools to access that already include the above such as Positive Partnerships which is funded by the Federal Government and is Australia’s leading PL on Autism.Positive Partnerships delivered the training for Autism Inclusion Teachers in SA this year (see link above). Positive Partnerships PL utilises a facilitation rather than a presentation model and an Autistic person facilitates with others as a Delivery Team Member on every workshop. https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/ The Education Department need to utilise and promote these resources more as it is also provides a consistent approach across the State and the rest of Australia. It is a waste of precious $$$ to design and develop PL that already exists, particularly when the existing PL is far superior (endorsed rigorously evaluated) and more effective. There is no Autism (only) school in WA whereas other states have these settings to offer parents further choice. Some students in our current system would benefit much more in these settings as some of the environments they are in are not conducive to their learning, mental health and other needs. The very ‘set up’ of some schools makes it an unbearable place for some students. The number
of students with Autism accessing Home Schooling is increasing, with the physical environment of our traditional school settings (including Ed Support Schools, Centres, Endorsed Programs and Specialised Learning Programs) not suitable to their specific needs. ASPECT (NSW) are also now offering Autism Home Schooling. https://www.jacanaschoolforautism.vic.edu.au/
https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/how-can-we-help/going-to-school
- Strategies in other jurisdictions that support systems to respond to the needs of autistic students and the application of those strategies to WA.
NSW public education system have Schools of Specific Purpose (SSP). The department in NSW recognises that every student is an individual, with unique personal circumstances, needs and aspirations. NSW public schools reflect their communities; therefore, their students and staff are diverse. Teaching and learning practices need to be designed for diversity and intersectionality, considering how different individuals experience the world. Specialist settings as one part of the NSW department’s inclusive and flexible system of supports are guided by the goals of maximising student outcomes, enabling parent/carer choice, and constantly adapting to reflect the best available evidence. Support classes in mainstream schools and SSPs are available to deliver highly personalised and responsive services, supports, and infrastructure for students with disability. All education programs in place for a student with disability, and the decision to place a student in a support class, should be regularly reviewed with the student and their parents/carers to determine its ongoing appropriateness. In the NSW public education system inclusive education is achieved through practice, and inclusive outcomes are not limited to mainstream settings. Evidence demonstrates that a range of specific factors work together to improve educational, social, and employment outcomes for students.
Autism (nsw.gov.au)