Number of autistic students quadruples
The Autism News | English
ELEANOR HALL: Figures just released in New South Wales show a dramatic increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism who are going through the public school system.
In the past eight years the number of students with autism quadrupled to more than 8,000.
It’s a trend replicated across the nation and it’s prompted the teachers union to call for a massive increase in spending to deal with the challenge, as Barbara Miller reports.
BARBARA MILLER: New figures from the New South Wales Department of Education confirm what was widely suspected.
The number of children diagnosed with autism going through the public school system is increasing – and fast.
Brian Smyth King is the director of Disability Programs in the state’s Department of Education:
BRIAN SMYTH KING: The numbers have increased quite dramatically. We’ve had just over 2,000 students in 2003 through to over 8,000 students this year.
BARBARA MILLER: Is the system able to cope if there has been this dramatic increase?
BRIAN SMYTH KING: I think the system has coped very well up until this point but going into the future I think we have got some real challenges and that’s about individual teachers understanding the particular disorder, the implications of that for learning and what skills and needs they have themselves to actually respond to those needs.
BARBARA MILLER: The Australian Education Union says addressing the issue will require a lot more investment.
Angelo Gavrielatos is the union’s federal president:
ANGELO GAVRIELATOS: It is certainly a trend seen nationally. What we are seeing is a growth in numbers of students with disabilities in our schools and also a growth in the range of disabilities, the severity of disabilities that students present in our schools.
What we haven’t seen over the corresponding period of time is the growth in necessary funding in order to be able to properly address the needs of students with disabilities in our classrooms.
BARBARA MILLER: Angelo Gavrielatos says teachers are crying out for more resources to support children with autism and their peers.
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