'He couldn't cover it up enough anymore': Mum notices son's struggles following daughter's similar diagnosis

Nicole Richardson has four children, two of whom have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Richardson, 40, is also a teacher, and has spent years observing additional-needs students, thinking about what they need to perform in class and how schools attempt to cater to them.

The Queensland woman remembers putting two-and-two together when it came to her children and their eventual diagnoses. She describes her daughter as "quirky" and having "sensory overload" after returning home from a school day during which she behaved perfectly.

"She's the ultimate chameleon."

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Her son's expression of autism was different to his sister's. He didn't save his struggles for home and found changing schools particularly challenging.

"Everything was unfamiliar to him and he couldn't cover it up enough anymore so it was a lot more obvious."

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Richardson thinks back to her teacher training two decades earlier and remembers thinking there were "big holes in it" when it came to catering to "such a wide range of kids" with various needs.

"A lot has probably changed since then," she says. "There does seem to be more diversity and differentiation weaved into education in a lot more practical ways."

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Richardson has worked with children all her life including Sunday school, youth camps, in daycare, before-and-after-school care programs and as a teacher.

"I knew the model doesn't fit so many of my kids," she says of her students. "I would rely on a gut feeling to deal with students and to relate to them but I thought there must be more strategies to help make sure I'm really ticking all the boxes for children who are neurodiverse."

What began as research into strategies that would help her children became a graduate certificate in autism with QUT Online after an ad for the course popped up in her Facebook feed. The QUT Online, a one-year part-time degree aimed at upskilling teachers, which can also be completed full-time in six months.

"My Facebook feed algorithm was just right," she explains. "I was able to do it part-time and I didn't have to be on sight. I was also working part-time so it became a priority to me that I was properly catering to my students."

"I'd wake up every morning and listen to all of my readings while I went for a walk," she explains. "I wasn't always super-organised and super ahead of time but I knew the priority was learning and the information and implementing it in the classroom."

She also came to the realisation the skills she was learning would benefit neurodiverse students would also benefit neurotypical students.

"Visual timetables, countdown clocks... there are so many strategies out there. Some seem really simple but they are really useful."

Richardson has now moved into a part-time role in inclusivity.

"I support teachers building relationships with all students both neurotypical and neurodiverse children. If they take the time to build a rapport that continues for the rest of the year." She finds some schools "do inclusion very well and very effectively" and others have more to learn about how inclusion can benefit all.

ABS data shows 83.7 percent of autistic students experiencing difficulty in school.

"I don't call myself some amazing person, I just know what is best for my students and generally all teachers want what is best for their kids and strive to do as much as they can.

"Sometimes it can become so overwhelming. But if all students have a positive experience in primary school they can achieve such amazing things. They don't have to be super-academic, but the more they are able to engage with the curriculum and their community, the better the outcomes for all."

It's about everyone parents teachers, professionals, everyone working together to create a best-case scenario for all kids.