ABLE WA Curriculum for Homeschooling Children with Significant Disabilities

If your child has a significant cognitive disability, the standard WA Curriculum framework may not map well onto their educational needs. ABLE WA is a highly modified assessment framework that allows developmental rather than chronological assessment.

This post explains what ABLE WA is, how it applies to home education, and what it means for your learning programme and registration obligations.

What ABLE WA Is

ABLE WA is a Western Australian framework associated with students with significant cognitive disabilities. It provides a highly modified assessment approach rather than relying only on standard WA Curriculum achievement standards.

The standard WA Curriculum describes what a typical developing child at each year level should know and demonstrate. ABLE WA instead uses a developmental approach — it considers where the child is functioning developmentally rather than trying to map them only against chronological year-level expectations.

The framework supports documenting developmental skills and individual goals across the areas relevant to the child. The assessment identifies where the child is currently functioning and informs what goals to work toward.

Who ABLE WA Is Designed For

ABLE WA is intended for children with significant cognitive disabilities. The relevant question is the child's educational and developmental profile, not a diagnosis alone. Confirm whether ABLE WA is appropriate for a particular child with the Department or moderator and the current ABLE WA guidance.

ABLE WA and Home Education Registration

WA home education registration requires that your learning programme is "organised and designed to enable the child to develop knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes relevant to the child's individual needs." For children with significant cognitive disabilities, ABLE WA can provide a relevant framework for describing those individual needs and progress.

In practical terms, this means:

Your learning programme should explain the child's individual developmental goals. Where ABLE WA is the relevant framework, describe how the programme addresses those goals and the child's individual needs rather than assuming that chronological year-level coverage alone is the right measure.

The moderator review should reflect the child's profile. Evidence of learning can include things like increased independence in self-care tasks, improved communication (verbal, AAC, gesture), engagement with supported activities, and participation in community settings.

You should mention ABLE WA explicitly in your learning programme. State at the outset that your child has a significant cognitive disability and that the learning programme is developed in line with the ABLE WA framework. This gives the Department context for reviewing the programme against the child's individual needs.

What a Learning Programme Looks Like Under ABLE WA

Rather than assuming that eight learning area sections are sufficient, a programme using ABLE WA can be organised around the child's individual goals in areas relevant to the child. A simplified example:

Communication:

• Goal: Increase functional use of AAC device (LAMP Words for Life) to make consistent requests and comments across settings
• Approach: SLP-directed program with daily home practice; 3–4 communication sessions per week
• Resources: Tobii Dynavox device, LAMP Words for Life program, weekly SLP session

Personal and Social:

• Goal: Develop independence in dressing routine (all steps with minimal prompting)
• Approach: Task analysis with backward chaining; embedded into morning routine daily
• Resources: Visual schedule, OT guidance on task analysis

Learning:

• Goal: Match objects to pictures across 10+ functional vocabulary items; counting objects to 5
• Approach: Structured discrete trial teaching for academic skills; embedded practice throughout day
• Resources: ABA home program (supervised by BCBA), functional maths materials

Physical:

• Goal: Improve core strength and supported standing endurance for functional mobility
• Approach: PT home exercise program, twice-weekly hydrotherapy
• Resources: Physiotherapist-developed program, weekly swimming session

Health and Wellbeing:

• Goal: Tolerate teeth-brushing routine to completion with visual support
• Approach: Desensitisation program from OT; embedded into daily routine

This can be a suitable way to describe a programme for a child whose assessment uses ABLE WA. The Department still assesses whether the programme meets the child's individual educational needs.

Accessing ABLE WA Resources

The ABLE WA assessment tools and framework documents are published on the SCSA website. They include:

• The ABLE WA assessment framework document (overview of domains and developmental continuum)
• Assessment tools that therapists, teachers, or parents can use to determine current functioning levels
• Guidance on recording and reporting progress

Many families home educating under ABLE WA work with a team of therapists — speech pathologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, ABA therapist, or support workers — and the learning programme can reflect relevant goals from each. Structured therapeutic interventions can also be documented as evidence of educational progress.

Working With Your Moderator

If you are registering under ABLE WA, it helps to connect with your moderator early and explain your child's profile before you submit your learning programme. Most moderators are experienced with disability, but the degree of familiarity varies. Providing a brief summary of your child's diagnosis, current functioning levels, and the therapeutic supports in place sets the right context.

The annual review for ABLE WA families typically focuses on:

• What goals were targeted over the year
• What progress was made (even small steps count)
• What the goals are for the coming year
• How the programme addresses the child's individual needs

Progress with children with significant disabilities is often measured differently — increased consistency, decreased prompt levels, generalisation of skills to new settings. Be prepared to describe progress in these terms.

For a full walkthrough of the WA home education registration process — including how to structure your application and what documents to prepare — the Western Australia Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers both the standard registration pathway and how to adapt it for children with disabilities.

See more Western Australia guides →