Committee Secretariat
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Secretary,
RE: IMPROVING THE ATTENTION OF AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
It has been too hard for too long to improve the attention capabilities of tens of thousands of children living with autism, denying them a world of possibilities by failing to intervene early.
Great strides in technology mean the Commonwealth Government can now tackle this public health and education challenge with renewed vigour, confidence and determination. New Australian technology is enabling young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to make massive improvements to their lives; improvements not previously dreamt of even five years ago.
Specifically, two ground-breaking, game-based technologies have emerged from more than 20 years of evidence based research and clinical trials at Monash University:
(1) TALi DETECT – a digital assessment tool designed to identify possible attention vulnerabilities – one of the symptoms of autism – at a cognitive level across the three domains of selective, sustained and executive attention in children aged three to eight1.
(2) TALi TRAIN – a digital training program developed to improve attention in those children identified with possible attention vulnerabilities, and to support increased learning in early childhood.
AUSTRALIAN TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE EDUCATION FOR THOSE WITH AUTISM
Given inattention is one of the symptoms of autism, recognising the ability for Australian designed and developed technology to assess children for attention vulnerabilities at an early age will give many the opportunity to reach their full potential in life socially, professionally and personally.
Attention is a skill that underpins a child’s learning but is also a skill that needs to be taught. Inaction in addressing the attention vulnerabilities of children, especially those with autism, will prove to be devastating – ASD is estimated to conservatively cost Australia up to $7.2 billion annually2.
TALi Health believes strong, affirmative and decisive action is needed to improve the attention skills of children. Our objectives are the same objectives that thousands of parents work towards every day for their child: to increase their independence, increase social and economic participation, develop their capacity to actively take part in the community, and to help them pursue their own goals, objectives and aspirations.
Achievement of these outcomes will also assist those children to avoid suffering fewer social relationships, increased susceptibility to mental health issues, greater risk of substance abuse and incarceration, and interference with their academic or occupational prospects in life.
Research shows that early screening for attention vulnerabilities will give all Australian children the best chance to develop academically and socially, and to create a brighter future for themselves. Assessment (i.e. TALi DETECT) can be followed by non-invasive early intervention using technology (i.e. TALi TRAIN) to avoid or minimise the chance of
1 Children aged three to eight refers to the child’s brain developmental age 2 Horlin C, Falkmer M, Parsons R, Albrecht MA, Falkmer T (2014) The Cost of Autism Spectrum Disorders. PLoS ONE 9(9): e106552. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106552
medical intervention further down the track, not only offering significant savings for families but concurrently reducing the financial burden of ASD on society as a whole.
TALi Health places the child with autism first. The organisation is anticipating a groundswell of support for its early detection and non-invasive intervention technology from parents, guardians, teachers, educators, the community and political leaders.
LEADERSHIP TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM
An urgent Federal, State and Territory Government commitment to early assessment of attention vulnerabilities from kindergarten age – using proven, Australian technology – will improve the lives of tens of thousands of children.
With early intervention, children with autism can be given the opportunity to improve their attention skills when the neuroplasticity of the brain – the ability of the brain to form new connections – is at its best (i.e. kindergarten age).
While the 2015 Australian Bureau of Statistics showed 164,000 Australians, of which there are 81,000 children (5-14 years) with autism, Autism Spectrum Alliance estimates are much higher, stating 1 in 70 Australians are on the autism spectrum, which is around 353,880 people3. Early intervention could be the game-changer for those children who would otherwise fall under the radar.
Political will and a sense of a fair go will deliver kids with autism their greatest chance to step forward in the classroom with confidence. The time is right to move on using best-in-class digital technology to assess attention vulnerabilities early. Strong leadership is needed now.
TALI HEALTH’S PROPOSAL TO GOVERNMENT
TALi Health is uniquely positioned to partner with Australian Governments to support children with autism in kindergarten with specially devised technology to, firstly, identify attention vulnerabilities and, secondly, improve their attention abilities.
TALi Health’s trial of a non-pharmaceutical intervention to improve the health of children with autism shows that tablet-based attention training – in the home or in class – for five weeks, can positively influence aspects of attention (in particular, selective attention) as well as academic skills (in particular, numeracy skills)4 on a sustained basis5.
TALi Health calls on all levels of Government to increase its resolve to improve the lives of children with autism, their families and carers by committing to early assessment and intervention of attention vulnerabilities to improve educational and health outcomes.
We have a collective, pressing responsibility to nurture the cognitive abilities of our children, which can start right now by leveraging evidence-based, Australian technology to help young people with autism to reach their full potential - or “find their happy”, as we say at TALi Health.
Regards,
Glenn Smith
CEO
TALi Health
3 www.autismspectrum.org.au/about-autism, Autism Spectrum Australia 4 https://talihealth.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Tali-Train-Research-Compendium-web-version.pdf 5 2017 and 2019 study data demonstrates that improvement in numeracy appeared three-month post using TALi for children with ASD and improvements in inattentive behaviour were maintained for 6 months after completion of TALi for neurotypical children.