Autistic-friendly classrooms could have helped me get through school

Autism NZ’s announcement back in October that it is sponsoring a new charter school for neurodivergent rangatahi has been met with a mixed response from the community. Of course, it is not the solution. But it could be the start of one for some students.

I look back at a time when I was in year 11. My father had come back from the office, and I was shaking. I had to get a parent to sign off on my work so I could hand it in on time. I was burnt out and at rock bottom. My executive dysfunction had finally crushed me. My brain would not quiet, and I still felt like I was hearing every noise in the classroom, even though I had left a few hours earlier. My perfectionism had turned into a nasty voice that followed me at every moment. Why could I not be just like everyone else? Dad saw my pain and how unwell school was making me. He offered me an out, a break from education for a while. I adamantly refused and stuck it out until year 13.

However, those final years sticking it out only made me feel even more disconnected and misunderstood by both my teachers and peers. The following year, I protested outside of Jacinda Ardern’s office and made a speech on the proposed closure of charter schools. I acknowledged that mainstream education works for 80% of pupils. But the 20% were falling through the cracks, oblivious to the fact that I should’ve counted myself in that statistic. I now wonder,  had I not had my neurodivergence diagnosed in adulthood and had instead had the option of attending a school designed for my brain, if I would have experienced better mental health and not had to go through a long journey to reclaim my love of learning.

Charter schools in New Zealand have a fascinating history. It was a recognition that the mainstream education system’s one-size-fits-all approach does not work for everyone.  Initially an ACT Party policy*, the National Party adopted it in 2011 as part of its confidence-and-supply agreement after the elections. In the New Zealand context, a charter school is a school sponsored by an iwi, not-for-profit organisation, or business that receives funding similar to that of state schools. However, they are not subject to the same regulations. The schools set their own curriculum, teacher pay rates, school hours and term dates. And importantly, free for students to attend.

Legitimate concerns about the charter school model have been raised by both trade unions and teachers alike, including the lack of regulations on unqualified staff members teaching students and the lack of oversight. 

However, the success of many of these schools was reflected in their NCEA passing rates. Vanguard Military School boasted a 100% pass rate for Level 2 students in the first couple of years of its opening. The abolition of the model led them to convert to a special character school under the newly formed Labour Government in 2019. 

Under our current government, charter schools are back. The Autism New Zealand announcement was met with mixed views in the neurodivergent community in late October 2025. They announced the opening of a charter school called Autism NZ Education Hub. The school aims to cater to autistic and other neurodivergent students who are chronically disengaged and are excluded from mainstream education. They plan to open two campuses in Auckland and Wellington with an initial enrolment of 96 students for Term 3 this year.

Criticisms range from “why don’t we fix the mainstream system first” to others decrying it as segregation, down to just bashing the model. All viewpoints have merit. A charter school is not the solution to these issues, but we also need to address the current reality for a neurodivergent school learner in New Zealand and how it can be part of the solution.

The elephant in the room is the state of the mainstream education system and its impacts on learners. An ERO report states that neurodivergent learners are more likely to face exclusion from school, such as being asked to stay home or discouraged from enrolling in a local school. Harm also occurs when school senior management fails to implement neurodivergent-inclusive reforms.

The Education Hub’s report on the experiences of neurodivergent children and those supporting them highlighted dire realities. Many parents recounted the mental health impacts from the system on their children, from trauma responses to suicidal ideation. That was also my reality, I attending the only high school in rural New Zealand. Executive dysfunction paired with insurmountable perfectionism, alongside feeling constantly misunderstood by my teachers and peers, culminated in a tragic situation. Despite the ‘gifted’ label, I felt stupid and worthless by the time I graduated. I was told to reconsider my university ambitions, rather than being offered the support to help manage my workload, or the rules of teenage socialisation and the sensory hellhole of a stuffy classroom with over 30 students. 

In fairness, I did not have the vocabulary to communicate my experiences, and evidently, the faculty did not either. Teachers have not been trained or upskilled on how to manage and teach neurodivergent rangatahi. They are being burned out and frustrated due to the lack of resourcing. And our education system still has a pedantic focus on weaknesses rather than strengths-based learning. Long story short, we have yet to see a reform on this from our government agencies.

Furthermore, the community and their support needs are critically underfunded. It is estimated that 1 in 5 Kiwis is neurodivergent. However, the Ongoing Resource Scheme provides additional funding to only 1.6% of learners across the motu for learning resources. The Education Hub’s report highlights how underfunded we are compared to other countries like the US and Australia. It is very cooked, and we are failing many rangatahi. However, Autism NZ’s new charter school should not be dismissed. Of course, mainstream education needs reform. But we currently have chronically disengaged kids. More accessible schooling alternatives need to be offered to prevent those kids from becoming completely lost and to bring them back to school.

Autism New Zealand’s new school proposes hiring staff who are both trauma-informed and neurodivergence-aware. The school experience, especially with little to no support in place, can result in distress for neurodivergent kids, that can be misunderstood as “bad behaviour.” Many kids feel like they are naughty but do not have the vocabulary or life experience to understand the “why” they act this way. Having trained personnel who recognise such behaviours and work through them with the student is critical to developing rapport and, once again, the love of learning with your teacher. 

The new charter schools’ curriculum will be strengths-based rather than deficit-based, focusing on one’s abilities rather than problems. As the school promises to teach students to their needs, potential is more likely to be unlocked when the mainstream system makes them feel unintelligent. The school also promises to offer hybrid classes to some students, with many disengaged rangatahi also struggling with social anxiety. This is to meet them where they are, if required. We can expect campuses to be built fit for purpose, hopefully with the disappearance of the bane of neurodivergent students: open-plan classrooms. 

Others have stated that we already have correspondence schools that are suitable for this purpose, such as Te Kura. However, online schools cannot replicate a vital part of childhood development: socialisation. Attending a school with others like you who share similar experiences fosters camaraderie. This school differs in that, as a charter school, Autism New Zealand can create a purpose-built community for neurodivergent students who are excluded from the mainstream school. 

Despite the challenges, I graduated from high school and have a couple of semesters left at university before I finish my degree. And in retrospect, I would not have been a candidate for Autism NZ’s new school. A part of the solution that would have helped me is more neurodivergent-inclusive practices in the classroom with greater flexibility in my sensory environment. However, it brings me joy that other students who have been chronically disengaged and completely isolated from the mainstream system have a second chance to fall in love with learning again in a safe and affirming environment. 

*In response to a continually asked question about my past, I would like to acknowledge my previous affiliation with the ACT party. It was indeed policy like charter schools that initially drew me in. Like many 18 year olds, I was young and my views were easily malleable, and have also since changed rather significantly. Over the next few years, I garnered more life experience, including acting as a union delegate followed by becoming a union organiser for Unite Union. I am very proud of my work there. These days, my political views are personal and unrelated to my advocacy. The work we do with the YNCs in relation to politics is pragmatic. It is in that vein that we have been both heavily critical of this coalition government’s cutting of funding towards projects like ours, and at the same time recognise the benefits of this particular policy to the topic being discussed.