Facility Review #2
James O’Brien
Woodbury
Autism education and Research
Street Address
Building 11
Balcombe Heights Estate
92 Seven Hills Road
Baulkham Hills NSW 2153
How does a person become eligible for services?

Referrals of Students by parents or legal guardians must be accompanied by supporting
documentation regarding the student’s diagnosis from a Pediatrician, Psychiatrist, or
Psychologist.

The Referrals for Enrollment must be accompanied by a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum
Disorder. These children can be of any race, sex, or other socio-economic status and
must be between the ages of four and a half and thirteen at the time of their enrollment.

All students go under an individual assessment from the school, only after that is there an
interview with the parents to test their support to their child’s development. The parents
must demonstrate a willingness to become actively involved in their child’s progress.
Parents must agree to volunteer ten hours per term to the direct day to day running of the
facility and fundraising activities.
How many students does the facility serve?

The school caters to 32 children
When did the school get started and what are its goals?

Woodbury opened in January of 2006 in Sydney, Australia. The school is
designed to have a very peaceful and attractive setting. It is set up in an area of
open community with plenty of open space with the school buildings separate
from the rest of the community. This provides an ideal teaching environment to
deliver the curriculum that they are trying to impose on these children.

The goals of the school are to set each child with a specific and individualized
education plan which correlates with their unique learning style and wide variety
of mixed abilities. Communication, social skills, play and leisure, independent
living skills, motor skills, and obviously academic skills are all areas of the
program that are specifically targeted. The school has an extremely high student
to teacher ratio in order to provide the most one-on-one time possible with most
of the students.
How much does the program cost?

The student fees are $26,000 with the parents also vowing to raise an additional
$16,000 for their child. If fundraising results exceed expectations than a
reduction in the student fees are possible.
Services Provided

Basic Services Offered
o Meals
o Living Community/Residential programs
o Individual Consultations
o Behavioral Interventions

Social Activities
o Visiting local sights

Zoo

Park

Museum

Sporting events
o Art and dance shows
o Band
o School Dances
How does Woodbury measure its success?

Woodbury designs an individual education plan in correlation with the parents
for each student because each is so unique and different. Therefore, this is no
universal standard that needs to be met, rather, they attempt to progress each
child’s Key Learning Areas (KLA’s). Woodbury does not require any outside
testing to be done either since each plan is so individualized. Instead, they
follow a table that they attempt to move every child along at his or her own pace
as well as meeting their special needs.
How do individuals transition in and out of the program?

A student may transition in the program due to his or her age, and therefore
must move from one class to the next. A student may also transition out of the
program by leaving to go to another school or by graduating. Woodbury feels
that a student is ready to graduate when they have passed all the classes
necessary and are capable of going out into the world and achieve paid
employment. When these things happen it opens up new open spots for other
students to enter the program. Any other reason that there would be enough
room for other students to enroll in the program would be if there was an
increase in the facility’s enrollment numbers which would occur if there was an
increase in the funding base.
How does the facility communicate and coordinate with parents?

The facility will not even allow a student to enter their program if they do not
feel they have enough support from the parents. That is an integral part of the
student’s development and a necessary factor if the student is going to attend
Woodbury at all. The parents must attend a mandatory evaluation to make sure
they are on board for their child’s success and this isn’t just someplace to drop
them off like a day care. Basically, parent involvement is necessary in this
program and it could not happen otherwise.
What are your overall impressions and reflections of this facility?

We were extremely impressed with this facility but were amazed at how
different it can be from across seas. There were no necessary IEP forms or
external diagnosis once the students were initially instated in the program. All
they needed was to be confirmed as autistic by a physician and than they could
apply to be entered. Also, we were extremely pleased to see how much
cooperation was required by the parents. We firmly believe that you can send
your child wherever you want but there will not be as drastic of an impact or
progress unless the support is there from home. Woodbury made it necessary
that the parents get evaluated as well as the children to see if they will qualify
for their children to be entered. The only concern that we saw was that the
parents were required to pledge $16,000 in fundraising. That is not an easy task
every year. Some of us were involved in high school sport teams and that kind
of money was difficult to raise by fundraising organizations over a span of 2 or
more years. That is why it seems to us that this is a more individual intensive
sight for more wealthy people, especially since only 32 children attend there at
once. Also, with the site being located in Australia made it increasingly difficult
to get one on one communication and establish information but we wanted to
show a different facility with a different perspective. All in all, we were
extremely pleased with this facility and feel strongly about what they are doing
there.