Michael Vincent

For some parents of children with autism their greatest fear is how to prepare their child for adult life.

Even simple communication can be a struggle.

"As a parent all you can hope is they're able to cope in the world," Brooke Vujeviks said.

When her son Jordan started high school "he literally walked in the door and looked at the ground — barely any eye contact".

Nick Hodge, Sheffield Hallam University

Autistic children are increasingly being suspended or expelled from school, because of “behavioural problems” official figures show. Some regions in the UK have seen a 100% increase in these types of exclusions since 2011.

Georgie Elle

Supermarkets intentionally slaughter their customers with bright lights and music to influence their buying decisions.

Loud PA announcements, crashing trolleys, changes in temperature, smells from the bakery, deli, gardening department, butcher, seafood, staff with their large oversized trolleys parked in aisles in the way filling shelves that you have to carefully manoeuvre around...

Coles introduced a quiet hour to its shops in the eastern states.

Photo: Edwina Pickles

Benjamin Preiss

Autism support services would undergo a $50 million “revolution” if the Coalition wins the November election.

The package includes a 24-hour autism helpline and a $4 million increase for early diagnosis services, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy announced on Monday.

The peak autism support group, Amaze, will receive $2.4 million to expand their current hotline to 24 hours. It currently operates during business hours.

A trip to the supermaket often proves traumatic for five-year-old Leo Reseigh.

The Campbelltown boy was diagnosed with level-two autism earlier this year, with a developmental delay and high anxiety.

But a new weekly ‘Quiet Hour’ session offered at Coles has made grocery shopping easier for people, like Leo, who have conditions such as autism.

Quiet Hour promotes reduced noise and lighting in store for 60 minutes from 10.30am each Tuesday morning.

Samantha Hutchinson

The Victorian Coalition has promised a “revolution” in the way the state supports families ­living with autism, in a $50 million major pre-election pitch that ­includes a pledge to create a 24-hour autism helpline for parents.

Less than nine weeks out from the Victorian election, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has unveiled a seven-point plan to spend $50m over four years to boost services and support the 55,000 Victorians living with autism.

Hannah Devlin

Number of girls and women with the condition in UK may be vastly underestimated, leading neuroscientist says

Hundreds of thousands of girls and women with autism are going undiagnosed due to it being viewed as a “male condition”, according to one of the UK’s leading neuroscientists.

The quest to find a learning, training and respite facility for people with autism in Port Stephens has almost totally consumed the lives of Nelson Bay parents Les and Judy Merrett.

In 2010 the couple, whose 15-year-old son Dylan has autism, established the charity Autism Action with an aim to assist Port Stephens families impacted by autism and other intellectual disabilities.

Madeleine Ryan

I'm autistic, and I've rarely ever seen myself in the television characters that are supposed to represent me. There seem to be a lot of doctors, detectives – and dudes. It's hard to find stories about openly autistic girls and women navigating life as openly autistic girls and women; and even harder to find ones where autism is treated as more than a freakish gift, or as a disability.