Auckland, New Zealand-A story from the the New Zealand Herald caught our eye this morning, which stated that teachers and educators in New Zealand schools are unprepared for the challenges of autistic children in their classrooms.
A 14 year old buy was recently expelled from his school highlighted the fact that teachers in the province are not specifically trained to deal with situations that arise from having a child with an autism diagnosis under their care.
A mother of a teenage girl with autism called for the teacher training programme in Victoria University to incorporate a short module regarding autism and specific behavioural patterns relating to education od ASDs.
Tanya Catterall, has removed her 11 year old daughter from Green Bay School in Auckland and placed her in a special school after the 14 year old boy’s expulsion, until the mainstream teachers are trained to deal with autism.
Ms Catteral told the Herald:
“I feel for the student and the school, which is in a difficult position, but there is “no way” Maya would move across to the school while teachers were not trained properly to deal with pupils with autism.”
She deserves so much better. She won’t be going there in the near future.”