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Education Minister Sue Ellery supports specialist autism school but says it’s not on WA Govt’s radar

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Josh ZimmermanThe West Australian
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Education Minister Sue Ellery.
Camera IconEducation Minister Sue Ellery. Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian

Education Minister Sue Ellery supports the establishment of an independent autism-specific school but believes the McGowan Government’s current approach of running specialist programs in two dozen different locations was a better “spend of the public dollar”.

WA is the only State that does not already have a school dedicated entirely to children with autism – a gap a highlighted by a collection of parents who are working towards opening their own facility in 2024.

The group – Furthering Autistic Children’s Education and Schooling (FACES) – recently completed a six-week pilot providing classes to children with autism supporting social skills and academic learning and already has a waiting list for a second program next week.

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Ms Ellery said she was aware of FACES and believed the project would “add to the choice available for parents” but said establishing an autism-specific school was not a priority for the McGowan Government.

“As an independent school, it would no doubt charge fees and parents would make a choice based on that as well,” she said.

Minister for Education Sue Eller.
Camera IconMinister for Education Sue Eller. Credit: Phoebe Pin

“I wish them well in that but in terms of how we spend the public dollar that we have in education in Western Australia, given our geography, given the spread of the population, I think 24 specialist learning centres in addition to the other options that are available to parents is a good spend.”

Ms Ellery said a dedicated autism school would “serve a purpose for those who could get to it” but that the McGowan Government had taken a broader approach.

“We have specialist education centres, we have kids on the spectrum in mainstream classes and we will have 24 specialist autism learning centres with specially trained staff across Western Australia,” she said.

Sixteen of those learning centres are already up and running while the most recent State budget in May included $18.2 million to add an additional eight.

Autism is the fastest growing disability in Australia – accounting for nearly a third of all disabilities.

FACES founder and chairperson Emily Pearce said WA’s current schooling options did not match the needs of all children.

“The only option for children on the spectrum without an intellectual disability is a mainstream environment, and teachers just don’t have the time or the resources, and often not the training, to provide the individualised learning these kids require,” she said.

Dr Emily Pearce.
Camera IconDr Emily Pearce. Credit: Kelsey Reid/The West Australian

“Social communication skills, all those things you require to function in a classroom, they don’t acquire naturally, so we need to explicitly teach them those skills to be able to function.”

That was a view shared by University of WA autism expert Andrew Whitehouse, who said including every child with autism in a mainstream classroom was “unachievable” in practical terms.

“There are dozens of kids who are being homeschooled because at the moment the education system simply can’t cater to their needs,” he said.

“We can’t just stop (at the options already provided by the State Government) — we need to ensure that all children are catered for. And at the moment the school system simply can’t do that.”

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