If children with severe physical or intellectual disabilities had to wait years to be assessed in order to receive the support they need there would be widespread public concern.
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And if authorities were adopting a "we'll wait until the kid falls over before we intervene" policy the outrage would be palpable.
That's because it is obvious the best way to assist a child who has been struck by one of life's curveballs through no fault of their own is to provide diagnosis and support as early as possible.
Nobody would suggest making a vision-impaired child wait for years for the help they need to navigate a world they cannot see. The same is true for a child who does not have control over their limbs, is intellectually disabled, or cannot hear.
The sooner these special people, who have the same capacity to grow, to love and to enjoy life as anybody else, are provided with active support - especially in a learning environment - the more likely it is that they will achieve their full potential.
We should never forget that there are more than 8 billion ways of being human. Every individual is unique and precious.
Given the benefits of early intervention have been well known for over a century thanks to the work of pioneers such as Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller why is it then that tens of thousands of children, many of them in the ACT, are "falling through the cracks"?
The answer is quite simple. Not all disabilities and challenges are immediately obvious. Some conditions, especially those experienced by people described as "neurodiverse", can't be diagnosed in a heartbeat.
These include ADHD, autism, many mild intellectual disabilities, developmental delays and dyslexia.
That said the science has come a long way in recent years. Trained specialists do have the ability to sit down with a child, whose parent or parents have a "gut feeling" is different, and determine if there is a problem and what it might be.
The trouble, readily identified in our special series this week, is that there aren't enough of these specialists and, in too many cases, specialisation means that while the interlocutor might be able to identify autism they don't necessarily have the skillset to identify ADHD or vice-versa.
That is a real problem given it is not at all uncommon for neurodiverse individuals to have multiple conditions.
The upshot is that not only are many families in Canberra waiting up to two years or more to have their children assessed in order to be eligible for assistance but they may have to go on to two or three different waiting lists.
And, in the meantime, a child who would benefit greatly from early intervention and special assistance is left to fall through the cracks thanks to the many and varied ways in which individual schools interpret their responsibilities and how to access disability funding.
While it needs to be said that the situation in other jurisdictions is even worse this just isn't good enough.
MORE 'FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS':
There is a clear need to move away from assessment processes that focus on what people can't do as opposed to what they can do for a start.
The way in which funding is provided to support neurodivergent students in the classroom is also in need of review.
And, most importantly, best practice models for both diagnosis and the provision of support need to be rolled out across the school system to ensure equity of opportunity for all.
Given 20 per cent of ACT students have some form of disability but only six per cent qualify for disability assistance funding much more needs to be done.
