Find your local school
Search the SA school finder by suburb and filter by school type.
Support in a mainstream class
Ask to see the adjustments your child's teachers record in their One Plan. The Inclusive Education Support Program (IESP) follows those documented adjustments rather than your child's diagnosis, and the school applies.
Support classes and special schools
Ask your school which support classes or special school options may suit your child.
Autism-specific help
Ask the principal who your school's Autism Inclusion Teacher is and how they support your child's teachers. Since 2023, the department has funded access to this role in every public primary school, including Reception to Year 12 schools, with some smaller schools sharing the role. The teacher helps staff build autism-inclusive practice.
Who to contact
Start with your school. Call the Department for Education on 1800 088 158 (general government line) and ask to be directed to student disability support.
1800 088 158Specialist and autism-specific schools in SA
No school or department publishes a standard processing time, so contact the school as soon as you are considering it, even a year or more ahead, and ask to join the waiting list while you are still deciding. This is general guidance from families rather than a published timeline.
Assessment requirements are set by each school, not by a national rule. Aspect, for example, asks NSW families for a diagnosis plus a psychometric assessment no more than two years old, and South Australian families for a second report confirming the diagnosis, so check what the specific school requires.
Fees, year levels and eligibility change, so every school below links to its own page for current details.
Standalone specialist schools
A dedicated campus where every student has a disability or is autistic. Your child goes to that school, not to a mainstream school. Some are run by state governments, some are independent or faith-based, and a few are autism-specific.
Independent autism-specific school
Aspect runs Aspect Treetop School in Adelaide and a distance education program for students in Years 3 to 6. Details checked October 2026.
Independent low-fee specialist school
A non-denominational school for students with intellectual disability, including autistic students with additional needs.
SA Government specialist school
For students with vision or hearing impairment alongside additional disability. Referral based.
Support units and support classes run by the education department
A small class attached to a mainstream government school and staffed by that department, not by an autism provider. Names differ by state, and access usually runs through your department's own placement or access request process rather than the school itself.
SA Department for Education placements
South Australia offers special classes and special options placements in government schools, decided through the department's disability support process. Adelaide West Special Education Centre also runs link programs that place students inside partner mainstream schools.
Applying in SA
Contact the school or preschool principal directly. Share any diagnosis or assessment reports at enrolment and ask the school to start the Inclusive Education Support Program (IESP) process. IESP is South Australia's school disability funding program, and funding is based on your child's assessed functional need at school rather than the diagnosis label, so a completed diagnosis is not a strict prerequisite and a school can seek support while an assessment is still under way.
Available at specific SA preschools. Contact the preschool director or the SA Department for Education. 1800 088 158 is the department's general free call number rather than a disability specific line.
South Australia does not publish a single parent facing page explaining how to apply for a special or specialist school, so treat this as general guidance: placement is assessed regionally by the department, and individual special schools describe enrolment through a Department for Education regional panel. Contact the Student Support Services team in your local education region and the specific school. The department's children and students with disability policy sets the overarching framework.
