Falling through the cracks: how a rigid education system is failing students on the autism spectrum
Author: Anita Jiang | Sponsorship & Partnership Director
For the majority of my schooling, my education revolved entirely around the notion of academic success. Whilst my parents were generally financially conservative, they prioritised placing me in an elite high-fee private school along with paying for external tuition. I not only had access to all the support I needed, but I was also encouraged to actively seek it. For that, I am grateful.
Over the past two years, I have worked closely with around 20 students from a variety of year levels as a private English tutor. The majority of my students progress sufficiently well in school and are looking for an additional push to achieve top results.
Earlier this year, I received a slightly different enquiry. A concerned parent reached out to me, seeking help for her son who was at high risk of failing Year 11 English and ultimately being denied the opportunity to undertake Year 12. His school had suggested that the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) pathway may be a more ‘appropriate’ option. Whilst the VCAL provides flexibility and a great alternative for students who prefer hands-on classes rather than the traditional classroom environment, it was simply not an option for Michael who was determined to pursue his interest in anthropology and philosophy at a tertiary level.
Although Michael’s work lacked the strict structure demanded by the English curriculum, his writing was engaging and reflected his ability to curate deep and sophisticated ideas. However, I was hesitant to take Michael on board as a student. Michael, like approximately 200,000 Australians has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Given my inexperience working with autistic children, I was concerned that I was not the right ‘fit’ for his specific needs.
What is Autism?
“When you've met one person on the autism spectrum, you've met one person on the autism spectrum.”
Autism spectrum disorder (also simply termed autism) is a complex developmental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, interacts with others, and experiences their environment. Autism is characterised by symptoms evident from early childhood and diagnosis is made based on developmental assessments and behavioural observations.
Encompassing a broad, diverse spectrum of behaviours and abilities, characteristics of autism include impaired communication and social interactions, repetitive behaviours, restrictive interests and difficulty with change, and sensory sensitivities. More than 1 in 100 Australians are autistic, making it highly likely that there are autistic students in every school in Australia.
Autism in the Classroom: A Complex Reality
“I get into trouble all the time at school for things I can’t control talking loud getting too close to other people interrupting I don’t mean to do this stuff my brain just does it I hate my brain”
Autistic students spend a huge amount of time learning how to cope with an environment that is out of sync with their abilities. Every child with ASD presents with unique needs and behaviours in an educational setting. Below is a high level overview of key challenges that autistic children face:
Cognitive Processing Delays: Delays in the ability to process or written language have a neurological basis and should never be confused with intelligence. In the classroom, where children are expected to shoot their hands in response to questions, the stress of being unable to immediately respond can present a seemingly impossible barrier with both learning and social consequences.
Sensory Perception Issues: Students may be especially sensitive to certain stimuli, have a poor sense of balance and lack depth perception.
Social Skill Deficits: Navigating school and playground friendships can be extremely tough for students who feel they are the ‘odd one out’. Unfortunately, bullying is a frequent occurrence in the schoolyard, leaving students feeling misunderstood and isolated.
Expression Challenges: Students may have problems expressing their own emotions and feelings as well perceiving and knowing how to respond to those of others.
Motor Skill Challenges: Motor skills are critically important for writing, drawing, pasting, cutting, and manipulating small objects such as glass microscope slides and tweezers.
Autism and Education in Australia
"These kids have a right to an education, by all means, but, if there are a number of them, these children should go into a special classroom and be looked after and given that special attention"
Pauline Hanson
In 2017, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson commented that students with disabilities should be removed from mainstream classrooms. Hanson’s ill-informed and deeply offensive statements suggested that students with disabilities were “holding our kids back” as they put a strain on teachers and schools. Such a simplistic view incorrectly excludes and places the blame on students, rather than recognising the problems inherent in the system.
Many parents with autistic children face the choice between mainstream school and Autism specialist schools. The pros and cons of these two options have been heavily debated and researched for many years. Staff in specialised schools operating within multidisciplinary teams are specifically trained to handle the challenges of autism and often employ non-traditional, innovative teaching methods to encourage learning and development. Additionally, some believe that autistic children that struggle with social skills will endure emotional pain due to rejection or bullying from classmates in a mainstream setting.
However, it has also been argued that the monolithic environment within specialised autism schools fails to foster the adequate coping skills children require for life outside of school. For autistic children, interacting with neurotypical peers provides a model for appropriate social interaction that is essential for their growth. Studies have shown that this inclusion of autistic students within regular classrooms can improve their quality of life, educational performance, and social development.
Despite these benefits, integration into regular schooling is often let down by inadequate training, support, and resources.
No Student Left Behind: We’re Falling Short
“The reality is that, for many autistic kids, it's only outside of school that their real talents, interests, and abilities can be seen.”
In October 2018, Amaze, the peak body for autistic people and their families in Victoria commissioned two research reports on the Community Attitudes & Behaviours towards Autism and Experiences of Autistic People and their Families.
This groundbreaking research found that autistic students have the worst educational outcomes of any students with a disability, with:
97% facing difficulties in their education
56% saying they’ve been treated unfairly
As these students’ needs remain unmet:
24% change schools during primary school
44% change schools during secondary school
Additionally, autistic students are 50% less likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree compared to students with other disabilities.
Bottom line, 21st century schools are not designed to be universally accessible. For students with differences of any kind, there are "special" accommodations — often consisting of "separate but equal" classrooms, activities, and even curricula.
While much has been learned about how to educate autistic children and support strategies widely discussed, autistic children are nonetheless at heightened risk for poor educational outcomes, including conflictual relationships with general education teachers. One of the key issues we face today is that few teachers are aware of how to channel the strengths of autistic children. A majority of teachers not only receive training that barely covers what a “disability” even is, they too grew up in a system that modelled a “deficit” view of kids with “special needs”.
The law states that schools should make reasonable adjustments so students with disabilities have the same opportunities as their peers. However, we are still getting it wrong when it comes to understanding neuron differences such as autism and disabilities more generally. Not only do our students deserve access to appropriate services without delay, educational providers must be supported and prepared. Improving the capacity of educational services will require increased provision of training, education, and consultancy support. Additionally, an increase in funding and resources must be allocated to needs-based education services. It is imperative that schools have the capacity to build enabling structures - visual aids, adjustments, prompts, reminders, recognition - to create a social and physical environment conducive to learning for all students.
Fundamentally, awareness, understanding, and compassion are what lie at the heart of this issue. Autism is widely known but yet to be widely understood. There is a tendency to rely on common stereotypes to make sense of a complex issue that is surrounded by widespread stigma and often not openly discussed in a sensitive manner. Such stereotypes include:
“Autistic people either need intensive support or no support at all” - Autism is a spectrum and people do not simply fall into 2 modes of functioning.
“People with autism are maths and science geniuses” - Strengths and weaknesses vary person to person.
“Meltdowns are excuses for temper tantrums” when in fact it is often a response to major anxiety and overstimulation.
Such misconceptions and stereotypes misrepresent what autistic people are actually like and often translate into how they are treated within an educational setting. Teachers may fail to empathise with the link between an autistic students’ condition and their behaviour or build disabling expectations surrounding a students’ capabilities.
Thus, an emphasis must be placed on increased collaboration between government, non-government educational sectors, and organisations that closely work with autistic families in order to establish a unified and transparent approach to raising awareness within the educational system.
Giving Autistic Students the Chance They Deserve
“People saw me as something they could utilise rather than a burden. I could sense that belief in me. I was able to step up to my potential”.
I became a tutor because I saw the value in providing individualised support for students during a stage in their lives where young Australians are overwhelmingly pushed to centre their sense of worth and achievement around academic performance.
My education equipped me with the ability to interpret the world around me and confidently express my thoughts and opinions. It taught me the value of resilience and how to leverage disappointment in my growth. Every student deserves this opportunity. Each child deserves to be assessed individually and the best choices made for them. They deserve to be encouraged, to be creative, to have hope, to fail, and to grow within an inclusive education system that caters equally to all of them.
Michael is brilliant. He is creative and has a deep fascination with the details of major historical events. Although he requires constant reminders to organise his writing in a set format, he never fails to make improvements based on feedback. But, Michael also unfortunately represents the many autistic students who are at high risk of falling through the cracks of a rigid education system.
When we fail to move past stereotypes and misconceptions to truly understand the needs of autistic students as they navigate the complexities of schooling, we as a society collectively discount and severely limit the potential of a group of individuals who deserve better.