59972 (2024). Chlöe Swarbrick to the Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills

59972 (2024). Chlöe Swarbrick to the Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills: What guidelines, if any, are used by educators to provide support for a neurodiverse student in tertiary institutions, and what treatment management, if any, is applied for them?

Hon Penny Simmonds: The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) sets expectations for tertiary education organisations (TEOs) supporting neurodiverse learners. All TEOs that receive over $5 million in funding from the TEC are required to develop a Disability Action Plan (DAP) that outlines their strategies for identifying the needs of their disabled and neurodiverse learners and how they will support them to achieve success. DAPs are published on a TEO’s website. TEOs that are required to submit DAPs meet with TEC regularly to discuss progress. All tertiary providers, regardless of their funding level, are encouraged to develop a DAP. DAP information and guidance, as well as annual sector-level reports on the DAPs, can be found here: https://www.tec.govt.nz/oritetanga-learner-success/new-oritetanga-tertiary-success-for-everyone/resources-to-help-support-your-learners/disability-action-plans/ TEOs use a broad range of resources from many different sources, both locally and internationally, to help support neurodiverse learners. This includes New Zealand-specific guidance provided by Achieve to help support disabled and neurodiverse learners at all stages of their learning journey. Resources and guidance can be found here: https://www.achieve.org.nz/. The TEC also provides a range of resources to support TEOs to better support their neurodiverse learners. These can be found here: https://www.tec.govt.nz/oritetanga-learner-success/new-oritetanga-tertiary-success-for-everyone/resources-to-help-support-your-learners/neurodiversity-resources/