On the 9th of November, the NDIA stated that it would be welcoming a new report which would be highlighting new findings, related to non-pharmacological techniques to intervene and care for the Autistic. This report has been produced with the help of some of the leading Autism-related researches and care-givers in a collaboration with the Autism Cooperative Research Center (CRC), covering aspects of young people’s living standards and routines as well as research into the psychological and clinical factors.

The report, which was originally published by the Autism CRC will be critical in helping the NDIA in approaching support policies and frameworks for the younger Australian population facing autism. This report will also include information for the general public including families, guardians and care-givers in regards to how to better empower and support young people facing autism. The NDIA has plans to involve certains members of the general public in evaluating the findings of the report including by not limited to participants of the research, their families and their physicians. With this, the NDIA plans to better prepare the NDIS and its efforts in regards to early intervention approaches for people facing this debilitating condition.

“There are more than 120,000 Australians with autism that are being supported by the NDIS, and more than 8,000 children receiving support through the Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach,” Shannon Rees, an NDIA spokesperson said. “The release of this report is an important step in improving participant experience and early intervention support for children on the autism spectrum in the NDIS” she continued.

In an effort to make this report and findings easily available, the summaries are available here whereas the full report can be found on the publishing centers website.