Page 3627 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 24 November 2021
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opportunities of children with autism. That is why the government has prioritised children up to 12 years old, as has the commonwealth.
The Child Development Service works hard to make families and professionals aware of the importance of the early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder by providing parents with detailed information on autism spectrum disorder and the treatment options available to them. There are support options. The Child Development Service also maintains a close relationship with ACT Health and Canberra Health Services staff, including community paediatricians and private psychologists, to ensure that a multifaceted, multidisciplinary response is in place for families.
The ACT government understands that autism can also be linked with other conditions that affect a person’s quality of life, including physical, developmental or mental health conditions. This means that individuals and families need to have respect, understanding and supports that allow them to be comfortable as they navigate our systems and services.
In October last year, the Child Development Service commenced a telehealth service for conducting autism assessments. While more complex multidisciplinary assessments still need to be done in person, a telehealth option means that more families can access assessments earlier. To date, 177 children have been referred for a telehealth autism assessment. I have been receiving really positive feedback about this new way of doing things, and the government will continue exploring innovative ways to deliver more autism assessments for children up to 12 years old at the Child Development Service.
While a diagnosis is important, Ms Berry really wanted to emphasise that local public schools also provide reasonable adjustments to support children’s learning in the absence of a formal diagnosis. Public schools develop individual learning plans in collaboration with families and other support staff that include goals and strategies that support students to learn alongside their peers. This is where those individual learning plans are needed. These plans are based on the needs of individual students. While diagnosis and assessments can support the development of these plans, children do not need a diagnosis for reasonable adjustments to be made.
The government’s commitment to rolling out free early learning for three-year-olds is a once-in-a-generation social reform that will see more Canberra families engaging in early learning. We have begun rolling out this program to those three-year-olds who need it most: those who are experiencing vulnerability, developmental delay or who have other complexities in their lives.
We know that two years of early learning before school really increases children’s chances of success over their lifetime and it gives families an opportunity to engage with learning professionals one year earlier than they might have previously. This also gives us a greater opportunity to catch any learning or socio-emotional disabilities that a child may be expressing.
There are also challenging issues for government, including a national shortage of allied health professionals to conduct autism assessments. Within Canberra Health
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