Moheb Costandi is a molecular and developmental neurobiologist, author and freelance science writer. He writes the blog Neurophilosophy, and his latest book is Neuroplasticity (2016). He lives in London.

Matt Bamford

Dozens of children with disabilities are being pulled out of West Australian schools by parents who say they are not getting enough support in the classroom.

Katie Burgess

Less than half of Canberra families say the National Disability Insurance Scheme has improved their child's access to education, as experts say the scheme is not working well with state and territory education departments.

Only 48 per cent of participants aged 6 to 14 in the ACT have seen an improvement in their access to education under the scheme, according to the COAG disability reform council's latest quarterly report.

Sandra Jones, Australian Catholic University

Around 1% of the population has an autism spectrum disorder, with estimates ranging from one in 150 to one in 70.

Bec Whetham

Relationships can have their challenges, but what if the challenges relate to an inherent part of a person?

A Melbourne therapist said that was the question being raised for many couples where one partner did not know they were autistic.

Melbourne-based autism therapist and special education teacher Jo White has spent the past 20 years working with autistic children, adults and their parents.

SHANNON Manning wakes at 3am every day to care for her two children with disabilities.

Prone to regular attacks from her kids’ meltdowns, she has nursed broken bones and bruises in order to provide for the children she loves more than life itself.

Her non-verbal daughter Meadow, 7, suffers from severe autism and epilepsy and is in a wheelchair. Her boy Madden, 6, has Cantu syndrome.

As the sole carer she is lucky if she sleeps for four hours a night; her only assistance the presence of a carer for six hours each weekday.