Page 3951 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The University has a good relationship with AEIOU and we have had discussions with them. We have not received a formal proposal. To comment further at this stage would be inappropriate.
That is a comment from the University of Canberra to my office yesterday in response to your motion, Mr Doszpot. This is indeed very different from what Mr Doszpot said in a media release last month, where he said that UC “is in the final planning stages of establishing such a centre for children with autism”.
I note that Mr Doszpot’s motion today does not put it so strongly, perhaps because Mr Doszpot may be considering that he has misrepresented the situation. However, it is clear that in putting this motion forward today Mr Doszpot has once again not had the courtesy to talk with UC about where things are up to and whether they are comfortable with having such early discussions with AEIOU aired in the Assembly.
I will take the opportunity again to outline the range of supports for children with a disability that the government provides. We are always looking for new ways to give families choice and flexibility. That is why we signed up early to the NDIS and will be the only jurisdiction that will go through the NDIS as a full jurisdiction. It is because we understand the opportunity that exists not just in delivering greater control to service users but also in building on quality and in building on the range and type of services that are available to Canberrans with a disability and their families.
In the ACT children and young people with autism and their families are able to access support through therapy intervention services, education settings, family support and respite services. Therapy ACT’s autism service provides multidisciplinary assessment and intervention services to children under the age of eight. Twelve professional staff provide services to approximately 240 clients across speech pathology, occupational therapy, psychology and social work. The Therapy ACT autism team intervention is based on collaboration, capacity building and evidence-informed practices applied across settings relevant to the child with autism, including education settings, the person’s home and their community.
For children over the age of eight, Therapy ACT is able to provide various models of assessment and intervention through their regional teams, which often involves working closely with the education setting.
As well as the work carried out by Therapy ACT, the Education and Training Directorate caters for the needs of children and young people with autism through a range of specialist education settings. These provide options for students to access support within the school setting, either through autism specific classes or within mainstream settings with support. This includes programs such as the communication and social awareness playgroup, autism intervention unit preschools, learning support units in primary and high schools and support for post-school options.
This range of options enables parents to choose an educational setting that best meets the needs of their children. For example, preschool children with autism may access an early intervention setting such as the autism intervention unit, in addition to mainstream preschool, providing up to 24 hours of educational input a week.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video