Editorial: in our view, this story is biased against the autistic victims - see below.

Amber Wilson

A teenager accused of bashing an autistic boy alongside two spanner-wielding friends was "antagonised" on Instagram before the fight, a Melbourne court has been told.

The 15-year-old, who is on bail, is likely to avoid a criminal conviction if he is deemed suitable for a diversion program to take his matter out of the court system.

Rick Morton

A list of psychologists ­approved by the federal government to offer autism diagnosis and treatment services disappeared from the ­internet around the same time the National Disability Insurance Agency began telling people their diagnoses were invalid unless performed by a clinical psychologist.

The Autism Spectrum Disorder practitioner list, maintained by the Australian Psychological Society as a federal government requirement, included psychologists from a range of fields, not just clinical professionals.

Barbara Miller

The young man who runs onto the rugby field today bears little resemblance to the shy, awkward teenager who first approached the University of Queensland Rugby Club several years ago with an unusual request.

Connor Whelan, 22, appears happy and confident as he shakes hands with the opposing team, Souths.

Head coach Paul Farmer still remembers well the nervous autistic boy who first came to see him with his father, asking for something largely missing from his life, inclusion.

In an extraordinary decision, Administrative Appeals Tribunal deputy president Gary Humphries has attacked the National Disability Insurance Agency for tearing through legal resources simply because it has such a “haphazard” approach to making decisions.

Anita Beaumont

IF Luke and Katrina Horn both worked nine-to-five jobs, they say there is “no way” they could cover the care of their 18-year-old son under his latest National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plan.

Dillon Horn, of Newcastle, has autism and epilepsy, and he is non-verbal.

Until now, Dillon has not needed “a lot” in terms of his NDIS plan because he was attending a special development school, full time.

A Melbourne man with a profound intellectual disability and autism, who was accused of assault and then left in a high-security prison because there was nowhere else for him to go, has had his charges dropped by Victorian prosecutors.

Francis was sent to prison because no service provider under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) would take him.

Rhiana Whitson

A Hobart grandmother has accused a not-for-profit disability services provider of housing her 15-year-old grandson in substandard conditions, with the organisation telling the ABC people with profound autism can be "volatile and destructive" towards furniture and property.

The grandmother, who the ABC has renamed Kathleen for legal reasons, also alleged the state of the boy's accommodation shocked even an employee of the organisation.

Andrew Cashin, Southern Cross University

As a society, we’ve come a long way in our understanding of the challenges people with autism face with social communication. But there is a large gap in our understanding of another cluster of behaviours that form part of an autism diagnosis: restrictive and repetitive behaviours and interests (RRBs).