August 3

rd
2014
Dear Senator Xenophon,
I am writing to you regarding a number of issues regarding the rollout of the NDIS in South Australia.
I am a father of a young boy who has low functioning autism by definition only and have been doing 1:1 therapy with
him since he was 21 months of age. He is now 5 and requires substantial therapy daily aimed at giving him skills to live
independently as an adult.
We have recently gone through the NDIS funding allocation process for our family and have been provided with the
apparent cap of $16,000. While this money will certainly help my son and family it in no way meets the financing
required for adequate early intervention. The Early Intervention for Children with ASD Guidelines for Good Practice 2012
compiled by Margot Prior and Jaqueline Roberts states that 15 to 25 hours per week is generally recommended for
autism early intervention in the research literature (Roberts and Prior, 2006) with some programs recommending as
much as 40 hours per week. Taking all of that into consideration the NDIS has covered approximately 6 to 8 of the
minimum 15 hours referred to in the report for our family.
As founder of Run4Autism (www.run4autism.net) based in SA, I have been in contact with several parents regarding the
NDIS process. Many of these parents are in the early intervention phase of support for their children and they have
either received below or been funded at the unofficial cap. Sadly some of these parents have children who are in need
of high level early intervention support and they are not receiving funding at a best practice model level.
I have been in contact with a mother of a child on the autism spectrum based in SA who recently contacted the Sydney
Morning Herald (article attached http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/children-with-autism-miss-
out-in-ndis-20140623-zsge6.html#ixzz39Ie1WmTo) Monika Dobek has been spending approximately $35,000 a year on
20 hours a week of evidence-based Applied Behaviour Analysis therapy for her six-year-old daughter. Her family recently
received $14,000 from the NDIS but the funding only covers approximately 6 hours of therapy per week. Again, a huge
shortfall in the insurance scheme.
Both Monika and I would be very keen to meet with you to discuss how we can get our message across to the federal
government before it is too late. Too late for our children and too late for other parents in other states of Australia.
South Australia is the trial site for early intervention and the funding model is clearly not working for all families and
NOT providing the funding to support the best practice model for ASD.
As you are most likely aware it is often difficult for some parents with children on the autism spectrum to work. One
parent is often at home with their child full time and the other parent works long hours to support the family and
therapy costs. The NDIS is meant to support the entire family. Again, the NDIS funding that families are receiving does
not allow parents to work as they still have to take their child to therapy sessions all day long or remain at home while
their child receives support by qualified professionals in their house.
How can the federal government justify calling it an insurance scheme when the NDIS does not cover an individuals
therapy based on best practice guidelines? Please Senator Xenophon before the NDIS scheme creates a funding model
for early intervention based on what has occurred in South Australia agree to meet with us and work with us to change
the system. We need your support to help challenge the NDIS funding allocation process before it is too late.
I will be posting this letter on the Run4Autism facebook site that is followed by approximately one thousand ASD
families. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest Regards,
Travis Saunders

Finalist Community Achievement Awards Carer SA category 2013
Founder Run4Autism / www.run4autism.net / run4autism@hotmail.com / https://www.facebook.com/Run4Autism