4.3 Educational provision in regional and international context
Many parents of autistic children in the UK feel that their choices are limited. However, the range and quality of educational choices is substantial compared with provision in many other areas of the world, and especially in low income countries. For instance, Ethiopia has a population of nearly 100 million people, of whom more than half are children – yet until recently there have been only two schools for autistic children. These are in the capital city, Addis Ababa, and were founded by two mothers, both of whom have taken important steps in improving support and services for children with autism (Tekola et al., 2016).
Activity 2 Educational provision for autism in your area
If you are in the UK, explore the internet to find out about educational provision near to you. You may find it useful to access the NAS Autism Services Directory, which you will find here: http://www.autism.org.uk/ earlybird [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
Check which of the following types of provision are available:
- mainstream school with an autism unit
- special school
- residential school.
If you are studying outside the UK, see if you can find out where the nearest autism-friendly school is located.