Social impact in practice: Acorn Neurodiversity

Dame Whina Cooper’s quote on a mural at Bayview Primary in Auckland reads: “Take care of our children. Take care of what they hear. Take care of what they see. For how the children grow, so will the shape of Aotearoa.” 

The Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study identified 15% of 8 year old participants as neurodivergent.

Already at 8, this neurodiverse group has significantly higher depression and anxiety and lower school satisfaction and quality of life scores than neurotypical children. A 2018 report from the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor identified 20% of youth offenders as having a learning disability, and 92% of young people in youth justice residences showed significant difficulties in at least one area of educational achievement.

Acorn Neurodiversity (Acorn) supports children and young people with a range of neurodivergent conditions. Acorn provides multidisciplinary services from early childhood to adolescence and into the early twenties, with a highly skilled team providing holistic services including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology services.

Acorn fills the gaps left by public sector services, with a core belief that every child is capable of learning and reaching their potential when given the appropriate tools and support. By focusing on early intervention and ongoing support, Acorn aims to ensure that children with developmental challenges receive timely and effective assistance, which is crucial for their long-term development.

Challenges

Acorn received 701 referrals in the last fiscal year, and its 20 service providers assisted 199 families. One of the significant challenges Acorn Neurodiversity faces is the high cost of providing individualised, evidence-based services. The organisation’s model relies primarily on fee-for-service funding, supplemented by philanthropy to offer subsidised or free services to families that cannot afford to pay for its services.

The fee-for-service model covers approximately 75% of Acorn’s operational costs. Acorn has no substantial government contracts and depends on grants from foundations and charitable trusts to meet their shortfall. This funding model creates financial instability, as despite its impact, the charity must constantly seek new sources of support to sustain its operations and expand its reach.

Impact and Outcomes

Acorn Neurodiversity’s impact is evident through the measurable progress of the children it serves. The organisation utilises standardised assessments to track developmental milestones and improvements in areas such as communication, emotional regulation, and self-help skills. These metrics demonstrate significant progress in the children’s abilities, validating the effectiveness of the services provided.

In collaboration with Ākina, Acorn Neurodiversity is working to refine its impact measurement tools. While Acorn has highly granular data available on an individual basis, this partnership aims to develop broader metrics to capture overall improvements in well-being and engagement, providing a clearer picture of the long-term benefits of their interventions.

Social Investment and Future Vision

Acorn’s proactive approach benefits individuals and families and also contributes to broader societal savings. It exemplifies how early intervention through investing in targeted, multidisciplinary support can significantly improve outcomes for neurodivergent children and young adults. With appropriate investment much more can be achieved.

Acorn’s work aligns with the principles of social investment, which emphasise early interventions to reduce future costs to social services, the health system, and the justice system. By investing in early childhood development, the organisation is making significant progress to reduce the prevalence of issues such as disengagement from education, youth offending, costly out of home care, welfare dependency, and long term care for adults with disabilities.

Through Acorn’s integrated approach and commitment to evidence-based practices, it provides a valuable service that addresses a critical gap in the public sector. With greater investment and support, Acorn Neurodiversity has the potential to expand its impact, ensuring that more children receive the early intervention and support they need to thrive. The result will be a more responsive social and healthcare system, and more efficient economic outcomes, as has been seen internationally.

This was originally posted in Ākina’s white paper, Developing a successful social investment approach: Supercharging social investment in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Ākina Foundation Trustees and panelists at the Ākina Social Investment White Paper Launch - that Acorn Neurodiversity contributed to.

From left to right: Rachel Sanson (Ākina Trustee) Jonathan Boston (Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington), Helmut Modlik (Helmut Karewa Modlik, Tumu Whakarae - CEO Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira), Cheryl Reynolds (Ākina Trustee), Tami Harris, (Chief Executive, Acorn Neurodiversity), and Nicola Nation (Ākina CEO).

Learn more about Acorn here:

Get in touch with Ākina

If you’re struggling to measure the positive impact your organisation creates, want create impact or want to start your social investment journey, get in touch with Ākina by emailing info@akina.org.nz