Autistic school kids in NZ more often suspended - but bespoke funding helps

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-05-17 06:16

New Zealand

Autistic students are nearly three times more likely to be suspended from school than their nonautistic peers, finds a New Zealand study that linked data from more than 730,000 students. However, the researchers also revealed that autistic students who received high-need Ongoing Resourcing Scheme funding had significantly lower odds of being suspended compared to autistic children without these funds. The team says its results suggest that the right support can help to offer a better, more inclusive education to autistic kids - and could justify expanding the high-need funding scheme.

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Research JAMA, Web page

Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Otago, Massey University, University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, A Better Start National Science Challenge, Autism New Zealand, CCS Disability Action,

Funder: This study was funded by grant UOAX1901 from the Better Start National Science Challenge, funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (Dr Milne). Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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