Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) sent a submission to the  Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for its Inquiry into Provision of services under the NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention Approach. 

The submission is listed as Submission 18 and is published here on the submissions webpage.

A4 is disappointed bt the NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention Approach. A4's submission to the Inquiry explains why.

Specific disappointments include:

• the NDIA either does not understand or chose to ignore consistent advice and recommendations from people with expertise in early intervention for autistic children.
• the NDIA increasingly denies autistic children and their families access to reasonable and necessary best practice evidence-based early intervention for their ASD. The NDIA denies the families of autistic children the choice and control that the NDIS is meant to provide.
• the NDIA and the Government refuse to recognise that ASD is a distinct disability with distinct needs. The NDIA adopted an Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Approach that is generic and usually inappropriate for autistic children.
• many NDIS planners and their supervisors have little or no discernible knowledge of autistic children and their needs due to their ASD ... which means that many NDI planners cannot develop effective plans for autistic children.
• the NDIA's eligibility criteria relating to ASD remain gobbledygook.
• the NDIA refuses to engage adequately with the ASD community and its representative groups on these matters.