NDIS is slashing funding for children with autism

What's happening?

Without warning or consultation, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is slashing funding for early intervention for children with autism who need intensive support.

In recent months, NDIS plans for children with high-support needs have been aggressively cut by up to 60%. Parents report being fed false information, blocking them from accessing specialised programs like AEIOU Foundation’s.

The NDIS is failing to consider the lived experiences and voices of these children, ignoring issues faced by autistic children with high support needs.

What does this mean?

About one third of AEIOU’s current families are at immediate risk: plan reviews extend beyond the legislated 21-day review period to an average of 79 days. Plans are being cut. Children’s needs and clinical recommendations are ignored. It’s even worse for children with a new diagnosis.

The NDIS proposed model includes cuts of up to 60% in therapy support, and fails to acknowledge the Australian Guidelines for Good Practice.

Worse than drastic funding cuts is the negative feedback to families from the NDIS. Examples of personal judgement and directly discouraging families from choosing their preferred provider are plain wrong. These children are currently under threat of having to leave our service and stop receiving their critical early intervention therapy.

The NDIS is blocking families for using their funding for specialised settings such as AEIOU, removing their right to choose services such as critical early intervention for their children.

Watch the video from our Founder A/Prof James Morton AM to find out more about these issues.

Vulnerable children will be worse off

We are already seeing a dramatic reduction in NDIS package values, leading to a reduction in much-needed therapy support. Plans have been slashed by up to 60%, and the average plan review is now taking 79 days, rather than the NDIS-mandated 21 days.

We know that AEIOU’s intensive early intervention program makes a significant difference to a child’s life. We know because we systematically assess each child's progress, and gather and analyse data, and regularly update our practice in line with emerging evidence. We also know because parents tell us.

Without adequate funding to deliver this service at this critical window of a child’s development, children will be denied to the opportunity to learn the skills that will enable them to thrive in their next educational setting and later in life.

Families are feeling intimidated by the NDIS

Our parents are telling us they feel intimidated by the NDIS. The feedback they are being given by planners at the NDIS is heartbreaking.

These already stressed families are scared, intimidated and at their wits end.

About one third of children enrolled at AEIOU are experiencing these challenges. Some families have already been forced to leave our service after long delays to plan reviews, and due to lack of funding.

About one third of all AEIOU families are now in plan limbo, representing 90 autistic children who are at immediate risk of losing specialised supports.

In a survey of AEIOU families last year, 99% said they would experience mental and physical burdens to themselves and/or spousal relationships if they became the primary provider of supports for their child, or had to coordinate all therapies themselves.

Families will also be financially burdened in this situation. It will disproportionately impact women, who are often most likely to give up jobs to provide caregiving.

What AEIOU is doing about it?

AEIOU is concerned about the drastic cuts to plan values, delays, and the negative bias relating to specialised supports from the NDIS that our families are experiencing.

We are now speaking out on this critical issue, and seek to hold those responsible to account. We want to:

• Restore funding for our autistic children (children with higher needs than their autistic peers)
• Prioritise children whose plans are currently under delayed review
• Address the negative attitude coming from within the NDIS:
• Call for planners within the NDIS to cease the callous and unethical treatment of families

How you can help

Reducing the ability for young children with autism to develop skills through intensive early intervention means that they will end up costing the Government more later - through additional NDIS spend on supported housing, social services, mental health costs and more.

As a specialist service provider that has been working with families for nearly 20 years, we can testify that respectful, inclusive and evidence-based intensive early intervention is essential in empowering autistic young people to their strengths and encourage a positive life path.

About our children

The children enrolled within our service have very high support needs. Upon enrolment, many cannot communicate, they can have severe and sometimes self-harming behaviours, and research shows their parents are experiencing clinically high levels of stress.

Upon enrolment at AEIOU, the average child is four years old. However, they have an average developmental age equivalent a child aged under two years. 

These children are vulnerable. At AEIOU, we value their strengths and unique qualities and support their needs. They have often experienced exclusion from mainstream childcare settings, and need the support of therapists and educators with autism-specific training to help them achieve their goals.  

Children who attend AEIOU have strengths that shine at AEIOU, and considerable early learning and adaptive challenges that are supported. Scores from their clinical assessments show their needs are higher than that of their autistic peers,  which also shows that the children attending AEIOU are more vulnerable and need more support than other young children.