Geraden Cann
In short:
A specialised Victorian day care that one parent credits with teaching his autistic sons how to play says it will end dedicated classes for children with autism next year due to changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The government agency that implements the NDIS said the scheme would continue to fund early childhood intervention and supports to help children participate in early education.
What's next?
Advocates expect more participants will struggle to access supports once the NDIS changes are rolled out, and want more clarity on how a new program meant to fill the gaps caused by NDIS changes will work.
James credits his twin boys' day care with helping them master their first 100 words and for their ability to play.
The boys have just turned five and both have been diagnosed with level-three autism and global developmental delay.
"Before, you would try and engage with them, and they would run off," James said.
"Now they are exploring things.
"One boy is really good with the toys and playing with train tracks, and the other boy climbs and explores the world more."
Getting the boys to day care can be difficult. James and his wife dress their twin boys in the dark while they're still asleep.
They try not to disturb them as they strap them into the car, and they give them breakfast during the 30-minute drive to their day care.
These are the daily routines that keep the boys regulated.
"They often have meltdowns, periods where if they're not happy, they may scream and be very difficult to comfort, it can last up to 30 minutes," James said.
James says specialist classes for his sons have helped them gain the ability for focused play. (ABC News: Simon Winter)
Thankfully, the boys enjoy their day care at the Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre at La Trobe University, so once they're there, they're happy.
The twins' specialist classes have one adult to every four children, and they are supported by therapy assistants and individualised support workers.
But the classes will not be available next year.
They will be cut, a La Trobe spokesperson said, because changes in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will mean they are not funded as part of participants' plans.
Without NDIS funding, the specialist classes would cost over $300 per child, per day.
NDIS funding overhaul excludes specialist child care
The child care classes were cut after the government released a draft list of services that will and will not be funded under the NDIS.
The list is intended to better define services that NDIS recipients can spend their funds on.
Under the new rules, services not covered include "childcare fees, including any fees associated with specialist or segregated childcare service models".
Consultation on these lists closed in late August and they will become law early next month.
The La Trobe spokesperson said the children in its specialist classes would now be moved to inclusive classes with their neurotypical peers, where they would still receive tailored support, but in higher adult-to-child ratios.
"We will not be able to accommodate all existing children at La Trobe Children's Centre under the new arrangements and some families will move to community support programs," the spokesperson said.
"We acknowledge that this change will be disappointing for families, children and our own staff, but we will continue to work with them to ensure they receive the best support under the new funding arrangements."
James says the closure of a specialised childcare service for children with autism is a tragedy. (ABC News: Simon Winter)
A spokesperson for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which is responsible for implementing the NDIS, said the scheme would continue to fund early childhood intervention and supports to help children participate in early education.
"There has been no change in the supports that children and their families can spend their funding on in the NDIS," the spokesperson said.
However, the La Trobe spokesperson said the NDIA had been contacted prior to the decision to cancel specialist classes, and said the agency confirmed their service would likely lose eligibility for NDIS plan funding.
Fifteen other categories containing a raft of services were also defined as ineligible for NDIS support, which has sparked panic and confusion among the disability community.
The La Trobe spokesperson said the decision was made to close classes from next year rather than risk future disruption.
While La Trobe publicly blames NDIS funding changes for the end of specialist classes, in a letter to parents the childcare centre said reductions in plan funding had also contributed.
Parents of autistic children report losing funding
James's family is one of those whose funding had fallen short before the NDIS changes were even finalised.
His boys' NDIS funding was enough to cover the daycare program during their first year, but not their second. After an internal review, the family are now petitioning for additional funding via the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
James is speaking out for future parents who may no longer be able to receive a service he believes has been crucial for his boys. (ABC News: Simon Winter)
A similar situation has been reported in Queensland, where an AEIOU Foundation clinical manager said the service has been overwhelmed by reports from parents saying their NDIS payments have been slashed by up to 60 per cent when their plans were reviewed in recent months.
The NDIA said it was not systematically reducing funding for therapy supports in children's plans, or the level of funding for participants with autism.
"Any reporting to the contrary is incorrect, and could generate unnecessary concern among families," the spokesperson said.
"Average payments to participants with autism under 18 for the year ending 30 June 2024 increased by 8 per cent from $22,200 to $24,000."
But Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) chief executive Skye Kakoschke-Moore said her organisation had heard of parents of autistic children struggling to manage their plans.
Children with autism forced out of specialised program due to NDIS funding cuts
A service for children with autism say they have been overwhelmed by reports from parents saying their NDIS payments have been being slashed by up to 60 per cent when their plans are reviewed.
"In a survey CYDA conducted in August, some parents of children with autism also told us they were worried about losing access to the NDIS entirely under the new rules," she said.
Ms Kakoschke-Moore was concerned providers were already applying the new NDIS rules, despite them not yet coming into effect.
"Unfortunately, we expect more participants will struggle to access certain essential supports once the rules are completely rolled out," she said.
She voiced concern towards the one-size-fits-all transitional rules and said a principled approach favouring flexibility was still the best option.
"What's absolutely crucial is that no child or young person is excluded from the scheme until and unless new support structures are co-designed, tested, and proven to meet their needs," she said.
Lack of detail on new system worsening 'fear and confusion'
A system called Foundational Supports is supposed to step in to fill gaps created by the NDIS changes, but Ms Kakoschke-Moore said lack of detail from the government about these had contributed to fears.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth has said consultations would begin this month on general supports, which included things like guidance and peer support programmes.
Targeted supports would be consulted on later, but there was no date when this to begin.
Participants in the dark as NDIS changes loom
Legislation paving the way for a shake-up of the NDIS recently passed parliament. But about a month out from changes starting to take effect, many participants remain in the dark about what it means for them.
How these Foundational Supports would be enacted, how they would work, and even what they would include are still unclear.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services said Foundational Supports would be jointly funded and commissioned by the Commonwealth and the states, and services were expected to be commissioned from mid-2025 and progressively scaled over several years.
Both NDIS Minister Bill Shorten and Victorian Minister for Disability Lizzie Blandthorn were approached with questions about where children like James's twins would go in future for specialist childcare support.
Ms Blandthorn did not provide a response, but pointed to a statement from a Department of Education spokesperson that supports for inclusive education were supplied from kindergarten to the end of secondary school, including pre-school field officers, kindergarten inclusion support and specialist equipment.
There was no response from Mr Shorten, who has previously defended reforms to rein in the program's growth by $14 billion in four years, and rejected claims they are a "cut" to funding.
Debate over inclusive and segregated classrooms
The La Trobe spokesperson said the child care had not approached the state government for funding to fill the NDIS gap, largely because of the national and state commitment to inclusive education.
This drive to inclusion and phase-out of segregated classrooms is another debate that James's twins are caught in the middle of, and one that seems as unsettled as the future of the NDIS.
Queensland University of Technology inclusive education lecturer Glenys Mann said the weight of evidence pointed to children with disability having better outcomes if they learned alongside their peers without disability.
"Segregation was found to be harmful to people with disabilities, that would be applicable across all the ages, that would be applicable in schools, and to young children as well," she said.
She acknowledged there were some in the field who believed specialist schools were essential.
Even the disability royal commission could not agree on how the future of education should look.
Disability inquiry explained
Australia's biggest-ever investigation into the treatment of people with disability has dropped its final report.
In its final report, delivered last September, half the commissioners recommended segregated schooling be gone by 2051, while the other half recommended segregated schooling continue with a greater emphasis on partnerships with mainstream schools and mixing of children.
The Victorian government's approach is just as split — it rejected the Commission's recommendation to phase out segregated schooling but has also invested $1.6 billion to deliver disability inclusion reforms.
NDIS reforms 'feel like cost cutting'
For James, the debate over phasing out segregated schooling had a simple answer — he does not believe his children would cope in inclusive classes.
He said the twins had attended two inclusive day cares and did not engage.
"They can't talk, they're picky eaters, they have behavioural challenges, these kids need the extra support," he said.
"In a room with 20 other kids, the educators tend to focus on the kids who are singing and dancing and playing."
James says the specialised autism childcare service has given him and his wife vital help with their sons. (ABC News: Simon Winter)
James said NDIS changes "feel like cost cutting" and the closure of the La Trobe specialist classes was a tragedy.
His own boys are heading to primary school next year, but James decided to speak up for future parents who would no longer receive a service that had been crucial to his boys' development, and provided an essential reprieve for him and his wife.
"We know when they go there, they go to a safe environment, the staff are really experts in that field," he said.
"They greet the kids with a smile on their face and they're just lovely."
from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-11/ndis-autism-childcare-classes-cut-amid-reform/104321010