Education for disabled students has been on the minds of many Hunter experts this week after the disability royal commission could not decide on whether to recommend an end to special schools.
Three of the six commissioners called for the end of segregated schooling by 2051 and no new enrolments from 2032.
For the Hunter, where about nine per cent of children are developmentally vulnerable, specialist education has been crucial to disabled students.
Associate Professor Jill Duncan leads research on diversity and inclusion at the University of Newcastle (UON). She said she did not support the "elimination of special schools" but felt most of the commission's recommendations on education were "excellent".
"My fundamental reason for [opposing] this is that when you phase out special schools, you eliminate choice and control," she said.
"Some parents are traumatised," Dr Duncan said of trying to get disabled students into schools that catered to them. "Sometimes, a caregiver will stop working because they have to homeschool the child."
Steph Cummings, of Newcastle, has a daughter with level three autism. Now in year two, she has been homeschooled for over a year.
"She went to kindy at our local public school and it didn't go well," Mrs Cummings said.
Her daughter, who is "a really bright little person" struggled in a large school environment. By the start of year one, she was struggling to leave the house.
"She would really like to return to school," Ms Cummings said. "But we haven't found a good fit yet."
On specialists schools, Ms Cummings said: "I don't feel particularly one way or the other. I think it is more about need meeting and where that can happen best. So far, that hasn't been at a mainstream school.
"It is really difficult to meet needs in a mainstream setting and it is difficult to afford private education. I think neurodivergent kids really do slip through the cracks," she said.
Chief executive of Aruma disability services Dr Martin Laverty said he supported the ending of segregation for people with a disability but questioned how it would be done in practice.
"Even where [commissioners] have been split, the commission is unanimous in saying at a point in the future, social inclusion by ending segregated settings is the destination."
In regional areas like the upper Hunter, Dr Laverty said access to specialist schools was slim.
"Therefore, we have got to make sure the mainstream school's ability to cater to the needs of children with disability is strengthened," he said.
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In the Hunter, public schools, including those with special educational units currents have the highest enrolment of students with disabilities, followed by Catholic and then independent schools.
Dr Duncan said the region was "unique" in it's ability to do this because of quality special education teaching at UON, but she was concerned about the pressure this could place on already over-burdened classroom teachers.
Aspect education runs specialised schools for children with autism in the Hunter and supports classroom teachers at local, mainstream schools.
National director Maryanne Gosling said under the commission's suggested timeline, "there is a lot of time for us to work this through and make sure we are doing the right thing for our students and our families.
"There is quite a lot of work to do," she said. "We will be taking [the commission's] lead but also presenting our logic around why we think it's important to continue the work we do."
A NSW government spokesperson said: "We will honour everyone's contribution to the Royal Commission by carefully and methodically considering each of the Commission's 222 recommendations, including those that relate to education.
"At this stage, we are not in a position to rule anything in or out."
