NDIA Accountability Project

Submission 337 — Divergent Psychology — Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative

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Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability

PO Box 6021

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Parliamentary Submission for Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative

3rd October 2025 __________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Committee,

As the principal psychologist of Divergent Psychology, I am writing this submission to highlight the importance of considering neurodiversity affirming approaches and workforce limitations in the development of the Thriving Kids Initiative. Related information is included in the below sections addressing aspects of the terms of reference for this inquiry.

Reflections on a Previous Initiative

Several years ago, prior to the NDIS being rolled out, eligible Autistic children in Australia could access support through FaHCSIA funding. I am aware that such early intervention support sometimes involved Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy. While ABA therapy has been recognised as evidence-based, research has shown that ABA therapy can cause psychological harm to autistic individuals (Anderson, 2022; Sandoval-Norton et al. 2019; Shkedy et al. 2021).

Evidence-Based Information Relevant to Identification of Needs and Support Planning

The Autism CRC have published three documents that are relevant to this inquiry, and which incorporate neurodiversity affirming principles. These are as follows:

  1. National Framework for assessing children’s functional strengths and support needs in Australia,

  2. National Guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autism in Australia, and

  3. National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia. 1

Regarding supports, I encourage the Committee to reflect on this question posed by Vivanti (2022, p. 1790): “What counts as “successful outcome” for autism interventions?”.

Vivanti (2022) notes concerns with interventions targeting the reduction of autistic traits (citing Schuck et al., 2021). In line with the social model of disability and the neurodiversity affirming movement, Vivanti (2022) describes an increasing interest in intervention targets focusing on “quality of life, self-reliance, well-being and freedom from distress and societal barriers to community participation” (p. 1790, citing AUTISTICA, 2016; Lord et al., 2020).

Intersectional Considerations

Given that autism has a strong genetic basis, it is important to consider that some parents and siblings of individuals may be autistic too. Therefore any resources for parents or siblings should be autistic-friendly, i.e. use clear, literal language etc.

Gaps in Workforce Support

In my practice I have heard of significant wait times (i.e. over 12 months, often much longer) for children to see paediatricians via the public system. I have also heard of families finding it difficult to find a private paediatrician with open books. It is recommended that these workforce limitations and related barriers are considered before rolling out any screening measures as part of the Thriving Kids initiative.

Other

It is also noted that autism is a neurotype; i.e. is life-long. Furthermore autism is viewed as a dynamic disability, meaning that functional capacity can fluctuate due to various factors. Therefore national support planning for Thriving Kids and transitions to NDIS/ other initiatives should take these understandings into account, and have options which enable responsiveness to an individual’s support needs as they change across time.

It is suggested that any supports and resources are co-designed with individuals who have lived experience of Autism and/ or developmental delay. The Autism CRC (2023) states “The co-design of research, products and services is fast becoming the gold standard, with many funding bodies, including Government, requiring co-design for grants and initiatives”. 2

I hope that this information is helpful to your inquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Anna Hassan

B.Psych (Hons.). M.Psych (Prof.)

Principal Psychologist

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References

Anderson, L. K. (2022). Autistic experiences of applied behavior analysis. Autism, 27(3), 737

  1. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221118216 Autism CRC. (2018, updated 2023). National Guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autism in Australia. https://www.autismcrc.com.au/best-practice/assessment-and diagnosis

Autism CRC. (2022). National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia. https://www.autismcrc.com.au/best-practice/supporting-children

Autism CRC. (2023). Co-design with the autistic community: Self-Advocacy@Work. https://www.autismcrc.com.au/knowledge-centre/reports/co-design-autistic community-self-advocacy-work

Autism CRC. (2024). National Framework for assessing children’s functional strengths and support needs in Australia. https://www.autismcrc.com.au/best-practice/strengths and-supports

AUTISTICA. (2016). Your questions shaping future autism research. https://www.autistica.org.uk/downloads/files/Autism-Top-10-Your-Priorities-for

Autism-Research.pdf

Lord C., McCauley J.B., Pepa L.A., Huerta M., Pickles A. (2020). Work, living, and the pursuit of happiness: Vocational and psychosocial outcomes for young adults with autism. Autism, 24(7), 1691-1703. 10.1177/1362361320919246

Sandoval-Norton, A. H., Shkedy, G., & Shkedy, D. (2019). How much compliance is too much compliance: Is long-term ABA therapy abuse? Cogent Psychology, 6, Article:

  1. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2019.1641258 Schuck, R. K., Tagavi, D. M., Baiden, K. M. P., Dwyer, P., Williams, Z. J., Osuna, A., Ferguson,

E. F., Muñoz, M.. J., Poyser, S. K., Johnson, J. F., & Vernon, T. W. (2022).

Neurodiversity and Autism Intervention: Reconciling Perspectives Through a

Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Framework. Journal of Autism

and Developmental Disorders, 52, 4625-4645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021 05316-x 4

Shkedy, G., Shkedy, D. & Sandoval-Norton, A.H. (2021). Long-term ABA Therapy Is Abusive: A Response to Gorycki, Ruppel, and Zane. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 5, 126-134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-021-00201-1

Vivanti, G. (2022). What does it mean for an autism intervention to be evidence-based? Autism Research, 15(10), 1787-1793. 10.1002/aur.2792

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