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Listen to thisOvercoming ignorance, like the type expressed by Queensland Senator Pauline Hanson, is one of the greatest challenges children with autism spectrum disorder face.
Every person with autism is an individual and people with autism have a lot to offer and teach us. Autistic people are wired up differently and this brings many strengths that make the world a better place.
Some of my favourite people, including my godson, Finlay, and some of the sharpest and kindest colleagues I have known have autism.
My life would have been far less rich, personally and professionally, if I hadn’t had the opportunity to learn from people with autism. That’s why I have a particular problem with Senator Hanson’s comments.
St Giles provides programs for more than 500 Tasmanian children with autism.
Ignorance and a lack of understanding continues to negatively influence the lives of people with autism and their families. It can start early, where parental concerns about their child’s development are dismissed by well-meaning family members, friends and professionals. Recently there have been worldwide efforts to identify autism in infancy (by the age of two).
In Tasmania the roll-out of the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance (SACS) study involves child health nurses monitoring the early social attention and communication skills of children at 12, 18 and 24 months. Children who are not developing as we would expect in these areas are referred to St Giles’ developmental assessment team to identify if the child has or is at risk of autism, if there is an alternative reason for the delays (such as language delay or global developmental delay) and to give families practical strategies to support their child’s development. Research that followed Victorian children on a similar diagnostic pathway found children identified with autism earlier had better outcomes than those who received a later diagnosis.
Diagnosing children early isn’t about curing autism – we wouldn’t want to – but is about helping families understand their children and get access to the support they need, to enhance the child’s development and to prevent secondary issues such as anxiety and behavioural challenges from taking hold.
In some ways I feel sorry for Senator Hanson. She clearly hasn’t experienced the joy of being the teacher, classmate, friend, colleague or family member of a person with autism. Children who learn alongside children with autism and other disabilities learn it is OK to be different, that everyone in life faces different challenges, and how they can help others by showing kindness and acceptance.
Teachers who have children with autism in their classes have the opportunity to share in the little steps forward that are giant leaps for the child with an autism spectrum disorder and their family.
They learn to differentiate the curriculum, to use a child’s interests and passions to support learning and to teach by breaking skills down in to meaningful and achievable chunks. The things they learn by teaching children with autism in their mainstream classrooms benefit ALL the children in that classroom.
The word “spectrum” describes the range of strengths and difficulties people on the autism spectrum may experience and means every person with autism is different. Each person with autism has unique care, therapy and educational needs.
St Giles provides individualised therapy and early intervention supports that help to prepare children for school, facilitate success in their educational settings and to achieve the goals individuals and their family members have for their lives. Our work helps teachers to differentiate the curriculum and support the diverse learning needs of all students, and hopefully, the new needs-based funding for schools will provide much needed additional support to teachers.
The bedrock of quality teaching is the relationship that a teacher has with the student and I am very pleased that the Tasmanian teachers I know don’t share Senator Hanson’s views. Thankfully, they work hard to ensure that children with autism are accepted, included and welcomed into every school. I urge you all to look at your workplace, your sporting club, your business and your life to ensure you do the same.
By Kathryn Fordyce
30 June 2017
Kathryn Fordyce is St Giles state manager of Autism Services.
