Show news for a region of your choice (mostly Austraian news).

Mainstream Australian classrooms 'not prepared' to educate the expanding cohort of autistic students

By bobb | Thu, 30/11/2023 - 09:44

By Ashleigh Keating

Connor Winfield was a gifted student, so no one could understand why he found school so difficult.

Key points:

  • Autism is the fastest growing disability in Australia, having increased by 25 per cent between 2015 and 2019
  • Mainstream teachers often lack the training and resources to cater for the needs of neurodiverse students
  • Experts and advocates are calling for autism-specific training to be mandatory for teachers

"I would bet that most of my teachers did not understand what autism was," he said.

Almost two years after a referral, Mariam’s son is finally getting the help he needs

By bobb | Thu, 30/11/2023 - 07:58

By Amber Schultz

It took Mariam Mukhtar nearly two years to have her teenage son Raamiz assessed for autism following a paediatric referral, and she fears the delay in getting him support has cost him his high school experience.

“Having support at the right time … that would have been a life-changing experience,” she said.

Disability advocate hits back at ‘misleading’ claims that NDIS funding is incentivising autism diagnoses

By bobb | Wed, 22/11/2023 - 14:24

Stephanie Convery

Chief of Children and Young People with Disability Australia says families are simply seeking help for their children, with the NDIS ‘the only place to turn’

An advocate for people with disabilities has criticised as “unhelpful” and “misleading” reports suggesting families are pursuing autism diagnoses because they see the NDIS as a financial opportunity.

The NDIS is being rorted, but not by autistic people like me

By bobb | Mon, 20/11/2023 - 13:56

Elena Filipczyk Autistic writer

It took me two years after my formal autism diagnosis to build up the courage to ask my kind, empathetic GP to help me access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). I was mortified, but most of all, I felt like an impostor.

As my GP smiled warmly and took the paperwork off me, she admitted she’d never filled in an NDIS form before. I looked down at my feet and dug my nails into my palms. Was I wasting her time? Was I wasting government money?

Autistic drivers could find their licences in legal limbo depending on where they live after new standards introduced

By bobb | Mon, 20/11/2023 - 13:41

Danielle Cahill

Thousands of autistic drivers could find their Australian licences are in legal limbo due to changes quietly made last year to the national standards that govern who is considered fit to drive.

The national 2022 Assessing Fitness to Drive standards are the first to list autism as a condition that "should be assessed individually", which may involve a practical assessment.

Why do some children lose their autism diagnosis?

By bobb | Tue, 10/10/2023 - 06:26
A study published 2 October in JAMA Pediatrics reports that 79 of 213 children who were diagnosed with autism at 12 to 36 months of age no longer met criteria for the condition at 5 to 7 years old. Spectrum asked autism researcher Deborah Fein, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, for her thoughts on the findings. In a 2013 study, Fein and her colleagues described a sample of people who lost their autism diagnosis.

cruel NDIS policy targets the most autistic and vulnerable NDIS participants

By convenor | Mon, 25/9/2023 - 10:06

NDIS policy (AAT Case Management Guide Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) - see below) fails some of the youngest and most severely autistic NDIS participants. Clinicians advise that some children with severe/profound or classic autism need intensive early intervention for their autism. NDIS policy (see below) says funding for the required early intervention depends on families winning a case against the government in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).