Strengthening Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is committed to supporting all children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), regardless of where they fall on the autism spectrum.
Schools have access to a range of resources to enable the delivery of a high quality program for all students, including students with ASD. These resources may be provided in the Student Resource Package, through student support services including psychologists, social workers, youth workers, speech pathologists, visiting teachers and curriculum consultants, or through specific early identification and intervention programs.
Student Support Groups
A Student Support Group can be established and an Individual Learning Plan developed for any student with an ASD. A Student Support Group is a co-operative partnership involving parents, school representatives and professionals that ensures coordinated support for each student's educational needs through the development of specific educational goals and a tailored educational program.
For more information, see the Department's Student Support Group Guidelines
Program for Students with Disabilities
The Program for Students with Disabilities is an additional program for a defined student population with moderate to severe disabilities. The Program for Students with Disabilities supports the education of students with disabilities in Victorian government schools by providing schools with additional resources.
For more information, see the Program for Students with Disabilities Handbook and Guidelines.
Further information regarding the support available to assist students with ASD in Victorian government schools is available from your school principal, or by contacting the Disabilities Coordinator at your Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Regional Office.
System-wide Reform
To ensure schools are equipped with the necessary skills to support children with an ASD, the Department is implementing system-wide reform which builds workforce capacity and skills at a statewide, regional, network and school level.
Children and young people with an ASD require flexible and responsive support at a number of levels during their schooling. Regions have developed strategic five year plans that enable schools to respond to the needs of children with an ASD at the following identified levels of support:
- Support Level One: A Whole-School Approach to Building a Positive School Culture
- Support Level Two: A Targeted Approach to Identify and Address Need
- Support Level Three: An Intensive Response to Address Need
A diagram of the support model is available below:
These levels build upon each other in order to provide an integrated and comprehensive model of support to enhance the capacity of children with an ASD to access an appropriate educational program. Students with ASD cannot be categorised within one support level, rather, support provided for a student with ASD needs to move between levels, and students may access all three at times during their schooling as their needs change and develop in line with changes in their life/school stage.
In the context of improved service system delivery for children with an ASD, there will be a particular focus on:
- Workforce Reform with an emphasis on engaging the workforce in professional learning to ensure schools have skilled and committed staff able to respond to the needs of children with an ASD
- Transitions with a commitment to create a more integrated system that will be more convenient for families, will smooth the major transition points in the system for children with an ASD and will allow families of children with an ASD to access the support they need
- Partnerships with parents and communities with a commitment to ensure that parents and families of children with an ASD are valued partners in their children’s development and learning
Regional Strategic ASD Plans
In order to implement the Department’s reform program and increase schools’ capacity to provide excellent educational programs for children with ASD, regions have developed five year plans which outline how they will address identified service gaps and build system capacity. Regions’ plans reflect their localised response to the challenges of providing support to children with an ASD and are by necessity tailored to the particular needs of each region.
As part of their plans, all regions have identified goals, actions and deliverables relating to the following identified areas:
- Data collection
- Partnerships
- Professional learning
- SSSO reform
- Specialist provision
- Transitions
A website is under development which will provide further information regarding the progress of regions’ strategic plans.
Inclusion Support Programs
The Department is committed to exploring opportunities for how schools can become more inclusive environments for a diverse range of children and young people. In order to improve local access to expert specialist teaching expertise and optimise the benefits that specialist expertise can bring to the wider school system, the Department has committed to establish six Inclusion Support Programs in mainstream schools in 2011.
Inclusion Support Programs support the inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in mainstream schools by providing the necessary teaching expertise, knowledge and facilities for children with ASD to participate as fully as possible in the school’s curriculum.
Inclusion Support Programs:
- Provide greater parental choice and learning options for students with ASD
- Build the capacity of mainstream schools
- Prepare students with ASD for more successful participation in the broader community.
The Inclusion Support Program works at a whole-school level to create an ‘autism friendly’ environment, as well as providing professional support to staff and targeted intensive support and intervention for individual students.
Central to the Inclusion Support Program is the ASD coordinator – a teacher with specialist ASD knowledge and expertise. This teacher works with the school staff to ensure that ‘autism friendly’ policies and practices are in place across the whole school. The ASD coordinator oversees the Individual Learning Plans of all students with ASD and provides professional development and support to teachers across the school to support the inclusion of students with ASD in mainstream classes.
Where necessary, students with ASD also receive targeted, intensive intervention to help them learn specific skills to assist their participation and learning.
Autism State Plan
Victoria is the first jurisdiction in Australia to develop an Autism State Plan to improve outcomes for people of all ages with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The Autism State Plan, which was launched in May 2009 during Autism Awareness Month, has a vision for the next 10 years to improve outcomes for people of all ages with an ASD. Priority actions have been identified that will make a difference in the short term, and a Stakeholder Advisory Group will help inform priority work over the Plan's 10 year implementation period.
Six priority areas are identified in the Plan which will guide the Plan’s implementation:
- Make it easier to get support
- Strengthen the ASD expertise of the workforce
- Extend and link key services and supports especially during transition
- Enhance and provide appropriate educational opportunities
- Facilitate successful participation in the community
- Develop a robust evidence base about ASD
Funding of $8.3 million over four years was dedicated in the 2009-10 State Budget to commence the implementation of the Autism State Plan. This includes:
- $4.2 million for mental health service enhancement to improve service quality, support staff training and provide greater access to mental health services particularly for young children and adolescents; and
- $4.1 million to improve support to pre-school children and young Victorians of school age, and to provide staff development opportunities including secondary consultation and mentoring.
The contributions of approximately 1000 Victorians, gathered through the extensive statewide consultation undertaken across metropolitan and regional Victoria in October and November 2007, constituted a major input into the Plan’s development.
Information from the consultation was complemented by a focused examination of local and international ASD research and policy. The response by Victorians throughout the consultation demonstrates the importance placed on improving the way support is provided to people with an ASD in our community, and ensures that the Plan has been informed by the knowledge of those with direct experience of ASD.
For more information, see Autism State Plan.
Scholarships
The Department is committed to increasing the capacity of schools to respond to the diverse needs of students in government schools, including those with ASD. In 2006, the Department established the Autism Teaching Institute based at Western Autistic School. The Institute provides accredited training courses and professional development opportunities to build teacher capacity and knowledge about teaching students with ASD. Under the Autism State Plan, 100 scholarships will be provided over four years to build the expertise and capabilities of teachers.
Helping Children with Autism
The Commonwealth Government, through the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), The Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA), and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) have committed $190 Million to help address the need for support and services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
The package includes professional development for teachers and other school staff to support school students with ASDs to achieve better educational outcomes and funding to enable parents and carers of school aged children with ASDs to attend workshops and information sessions and to access online workshops and information.
Further information about the Helping Children with Autism Package is available from FaHCSIA, DHOA and DEEWR.
The Helping Children with Autism Package also includes a National Autism Advisor Program to assist families and carers of children aged zero to six with a definitive diagnosis of an ASD.
Autism Advisors provide advice and information about the most appropriate early intervention services. The advisors will provide a link between the clinical diagnosis and access to early intervention programs and support services. They will also assist eligible families to access the Australian Government funding for early intervention services and grants to support families from rural and remote areas.
Autism Victoria has been selected to provide the Autism Advisor Program for Victoria. Further information is available on Autism Victoria's website at: www.autismvictoria.org.au/home.