Page 1389 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
You go from getting to the top of one queue, finding out that it is not what ails your child, to then join the end of another queue. Physicians use what is called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) to determine whether a person has an autism spectrum disorder. Recently they have moved from DSM-IV to DSM-V, which will now alter the framework.
Within the ASD community, there is concern that some who currently have an autism diagnosis might now not qualify; so there is further uncertainty for those parents. That is just another issue for parents to grapple with. If you reasonably suspect your child has ASD and you know that early intervention is the key to better outcomes, you get more and more depressed and distressed as the testing process drags on.
By the time you have worked your way through the eligibility for federal and/or state or territory funding, your child can be a few years older and you are at your wits end. The Autism Asperger ACT association have, for several years, lodged pre-budget submissions. Each year they have highlighted a need to deliver current services more efficiently. While they seem reluctant to criticise too strongly what is on offer, presumably for fear of retribution, they do support the establishment of a centralised diagnostic team where all children who are displaying delays in development are assessed by the one team of doctors, therapy staff and psychologists.
They have suggested that the current system, where children are seen by the autism team at Therapy ACT, is not satisfactory. They suggest that an estimated 40 per cent of children assessed by that team do not receive an autism diagnosis. So the parents are left to start again elsewhere. The waiting time for the autism team can be months.
To date they have never received an acknowledgement or response to this suggestion. But if they are surprised by this, those of us on this side of the chamber are not. So our motion today supports Autism Asperger ACT’s calls for streamlined diagnostic services. But getting a diagnosis is only the first part of the long journey for parents. Getting access to appropriate therapy and intervention is quite another. We need to do better for our ASD families.
The motion refers to the autism intervention unit. This unit provides an early intervention program for children who have a diagnosis of ASD. Children can attend two 4½-hour sessions a week. All the units operate with a maximum of four children in a group with two staff members, which allows for close interaction.
In theory, children can also access a local preschool program for four hours a week and support for this is provided by staff from early childhood education. Families may apply to access an additional four to eight hours per week in a local preschool program, and local preschools may apply for support through the support-at-preschool process for additional support. That sounds all well and good and no doubt this government thinks that is enough, but when you talk to families and to those involved in support for families, you learn that schools that run the preschool program need to find 50 per cent of the cost of employing the additional support, and that is not easy.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video