Response to the Consultation about the Draft National Guideline for Supporting Autistic Children and their Families

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback via a survey about the draft of the National guideline for supporting the learning, participation and wellbeing of autistic children and their families in Australia. This followed an earlier APS response, in March 2022, to the Autism CRC consultation that informed the development of the draft guideline.

The APS commended the Autism CRC on the development of this important guideline. We noted that previous APS feedback highlighting that support for autistic children must be founded on family-centred, culturally responsive and coordinated multi-disciplinary, safe, and quality evidence-based support was apparent throughout the draft. Other feedback about the draft included:

• More completely describing the role and scope of practice of psychologists who support autistic children and their families.
• Provide more “good practice points” guidance for practitioners about complex issues such as responding to requests for fad or potentially harmful treatments; child consent to treatment; inclusive and culturally safe spaces; and restrictive and other practices that contravene human rights.
• Clarify what constitutes sufficient training and supervision for practitioners providing support to autistic children and their families.

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