Increased demand for autism support outpacing specialist school places

Autism Queensland hopes to open its fourth campus next year and expressions of interest have already far exceeded capacity.

Principal of Autism Queensland, Cathy Drummond, with students Cohen, Connor, Abby, Caleb and Davin at Autism Queensland Brighton Campus, Friday, May 3, 2024 - Picture: Richard Walker

Demand for dedicated classroom support for autistic children is outpacing places available in specialist schools, with private providers unable to expand their infrastructure fast enough to meet growing enrolment waitlists.

Autism Queensland hopes to open its fourth campus next year and expressions of interest have already far exceeded capacity, while The Sycamore School has doubled its intake and expanded its year levels since 2017 and now reached capacity.

Autism Queensland has four specialist schools at Brighton, Sunnybank Hills, Edmonton in Cairns, and they hope to open a Brightwater campus on the Sunshine Coast in 2025.

There are 191 students currently enrolled at AQ schools, marking a 33 per cent increase compared to 2023. AQ has also received 72 enrolment inquiries in the past month alone.

“We are at capacity in all campuses, we have no more capacity to build more classrooms, so we are looking at other options for next year,” AQ principal Cathy Drummond said.

Principal of Autism Queensland, Cathy Drummond, with students at Autism Queensland Brighton Campus, Friday, May 3, 2024 – Picture: Richard Walker

“We’ve had quite a significant increase in enrolments this year and most of those have come from regional and remote students – particularly families in our Cairns school and our Distance Education program, which only commenced this year.

“We know that the learning from home period has increased numbers of autistic students disconnected from their school communities and needing immense amounts of support to reconnect and build up their attendance levels.

“The Brightwater campus was very much driven by parent demand. Within the first month we had 60 expressions of interest, and Brightwater can only take 48 full-time students initially.”

The Sycamore School at Alexandra Hills has 98 students with autism in Prep-Year 10. Principal Ronwyn Collier said the school focuses on small classes with 8-12 students, a teacher and an educational support officer.

Principal of Autism Queensland, Cathy Drummond, with student Abby (age 7) at Autism Queensland Brighton Campus, Friday, May 3, 2024 – Picture: Richard Walker

“Demand is definitely outpacing resources,” she said.

“We have now reached the capacity of our current campus. We are looking to expand our current campus at Alexandra Hills and have for some time been exploring potential sites for new campuses in Brisbane’s north and western corridor.

“There are numerous inquiries weekly, with an increase in the past year, particularly in high school. Inquiries are not only from families in inner-Brisbane, but from the greater Brisbane area and students have moved from interstate and internationally to join the school.”

Professor James Scott, child and youth psychiatrist at the University of Queensland’s Child Health Research Centre, said there were many factors behind the increased demand.

“There is more recognition and awareness of autism. I also think there is more awareness that autistic children do require more support,” he said.

“We’re also seeing a real increase in neurodiversity … the evidence is starting to come out about the use of screens from a young age, which is impairing social relationships, language development, restricting interest, and impairing attention.”

Professor Scott said there are different levels of autism, the severity depends on whether the child can be supported in mainstream schools, or should be in a specialist school.

“Severe autism, the child is often unable to communicate verbally, they have enormous difficulties engaging with peers, and they require near one-on-one support,” he said.

“For those children, if you can get in and give them support early, you can really make a difference and stop them from becoming adults with profound difficulties.

“These children may need a completely different program or very intensive support that is largely unavailable in mainstream schools.

“For those children with mild to moderate autism, they have difficulty reading social queues, they need support to negotiate classroom settings, and they can get overwhelmed by noises and activities around them.

“They can be in mainstream schools, with support around them.”

The Sycamore School principal Ronwyn Collier said the school has long advocated for fairer and more direct funding to independent specialist autism schools.

Principal of Autism Queensland, Cathy Drummond, with student Cohen (age 6) at Autism Queensland Brighton Campus, Friday, May 3, 2024 – Picture: Richard Walker

“Increased funding, followed by land and buildings are the first steps … to meet the ever-increasing demand to support neurodiverse students,” she said.

“The Sycamore School has always advocated for improved teacher training not just to sustain a workforce, but to improve outcomes for students more broadly.

“There is only a very small component of autism-specific content delivered in teaching degrees. Furthermore, pre-service teachers are discouraged from completing practicum in specialist settings because it is not viewed as a reflection of the ‘average’ classroom.”

AQ chief operating officer Frances Scodellaro said there must be a “multifaceted approach” to meet the demand.

“AQ feels there is a lot more we can do to work with the education sector to support autistic children, but that would just be one piece of the puzzle,” she said.

“We also need to see more opportunities for professional development for teachers – they need access to coaching and support. There needs to be work done around the physical environments and designs of our schools.”

A Department of Education spokesman said 25,847 students with an autism diagnosis were enrolled in Queensland state schools, as of February 2024.

“The Department of Education provides a range of resources to state schools to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities.

“These include additional teachers and teacher aides, therapists and specialist coaches. The department also provides specialist support and coaching to school leaders and classroom teachers through the Autism Hub and Autism coaches.

“Autism Queensland (AQ) is also funded by the state government to provide school outreach visits to students, offering information, advice, and individualised strategies to support the educational outcomes of children with autism.”