Discussion Point - Autism Specific School for Canberra

So the Libs have promised a 40 place Autism specific "school" for Canberra. There has been a lot of discussion all over facebook, twitter, and apparently websites such as the Riotact etc.

I rarely give any personal opinion on this blog, preferring to keep it to events, facts, and reporting only, however this seems to be such a huge issue in the ACT right now I think it's worth having a conversation over.

My thoughts are that :

• 40 places are not nearly enough given the rates of autism / disability (i would go so far as to say they are a token)
• the model requires the parents / centre to be fundraising to keep it going which is frankly crazy (lol)
• it's not a "school", it's an early intervention centre
• why is it autism only? why is it not a general early intervention centre for all children with disabilities, with autism streams within (but only where a specific autism stream is a necessity due to the needs of children with autism)
• it's a promise which is likely to backfire if generating votes was the main focus. while some people are excited by the idea the majority of people i see discussing it have major concerns about it.

Just reading the latest story to be posted on the Canberra Times about it and they predict fees will be less than $23000 pa per child - OMG! there is NO WAY on earth that we would have been able to afford that and no way on earth parents should have to pay that! what about parents on low incomes? what about parents who have autism (or other disabilities) themselves and are unable to work  due to their disability?

So what are your thoughts?