Submission to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory

By bobb |

The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory 

PO Box 4215,

Kingston ACT 2604

email: ChildDetentionNT@royalcommission.gov.au

 

Dear Commissioners

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) is a national grassroots organisation advocating for autistic people (people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder – ASD).

CEDAW: autistic women and mothers

By bobb |

Presentation by Monique Blakemore to CEDAW, United Nations 30th October 2015 

Autistic women are a marginalised sector of the worlds largest minority group, the disabled community. There is an estimated 51,870,000 autistic women worldwide, a similar population to England.

Autistic women are subjected to systemic disadvantage in most areas of their lives. Autistic women experience exclusion socially, in education, in their personal lives, in the judicial system and in access to healthcare. Autistic leadership, exemplified by organizations such as Autism Women Matter, the Scottish Women’s Autism Network (SWAN) and Alliance Autiste, is necessary to challenge stigma and discrimination. 

Real, effective, and meaningful participation of autistic people, regardless of gender, is encapsulated in the phrase ‘nothing about us without us’ and is the aim of the autistic rights movement. Representation of autistic people by groups and individuals is frequently unfunded and unsupported. Unfortunately, ‘tokenism’, which is the illusion of consultation, is over-representative of the autistic advocacy experience. Autistic voices can be crowded out by those of professionals and parent caregivers that love and support us, but may see autism through their own experience. 

submission to Victorian Education Inquiry

By bobb |

A4 made a submission to Victoria'a review of its Program for Students with Disabilities

As well as answering the question raised in the reviews discussion paper, the submission (link below) has a short section on the very topical issue of behaviour management for autistic students , and an extended discussion of Inclusive Education for autistic students in Annex B.

Submission on National Disability Advocacy Framework

By convenor |

To the DSS advocacy and access team,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide input to your review of the National Disability Advocacy Framework.

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, known as A4, is a nation organisation that focuses on systemic advocacy for the growing number of people living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that the number of Australians with ASD over recent times has been …

year 1998 2003 2009 2012
autism '000s 13.2 30.4 64.4 115.4
5 year growth   2.3 1.9 2.6
severe & profound   87% 74% 73%

 

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), most people who are diagnosed with ASD have severe or profound disability.