ISA’s submission emphasises the importance of increasing accessible support services, and improving measures that collectively aim to promote awareness, increase understanding and provide tailored support for Autistic people within educational settings and the community.
ISA strongly supports the Strategy’s vision and goal to improve life outcomes for Autistic people to create a more inclusive society. The Strategy’s Guiding Principles provide a sound foundation for its development, and we support the Strategy’s approach as being strengths-based and neurodiversity-affirming.
Mainstream schools in the Independent sector educate many Autistic students. In 2023, 21.9 per cent of Independent school students were included in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data. As the national data collection is based on adjustments and not diagnosis, the sector does not have any data on how many Autistic students are enrolled.
There are currently 47 special schools and 96 special assistance schools in the Independent sector. Many students enrolled in these schools have lifelong neurodevelopmental differences with co-occurring disabilities.