'Like a jail sentence': Teen with special needs isolated at school

Sherryn Groch

A Canberra student with high needs who wasn't allowed to go to school for more than four months is now facing a "jail sentence" when he returns under restrictive conditions, his family say.

Abdul-Ghani Ferkh, who has complex autism, was suspended from the Woden School in early April after running off campus grounds to the local shops and stealing a toy. Correspondence between the school, the ACT education directorate and the Ferkh family seen by The Canberra Times details how the suspension, originally due to end on April 18, was extended multiple times before his break became indefinite.

Children with autism showing increasing anxiety through primary school – study

Deborah Marshall

A world-first autism study has found high levels of anxiety in children as young as five years old with autism attending Australian schools, and that levels of generalised anxiety increase as they get older.

Published in the Journal of School Psychology this week, the study surveyed teachers using a standardised ranking method to identify anxiety symptoms of 92 children aged 5-12 years in mainstream and special schools.

Researchers from the Griffith University Autism Centre of Excellence analysed two groups of children – those who had just started school and those about to move from primary to high school.

The AAT Slams the NDIA's "unsatisfactory state of affairs"

It is not commonplace for public servants or members of the judiciary to publically implore or reprimand government ministers or other public bodies. These are people who take the separation of powers very seriously. This makes the decision of the Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), Gary Humphries to attack the NDIA and urge ministerial intervention even more extraordinary.

NSW: Inquiry into the implementation of the NDIS and the provision of disability services in New South Wales

MEDIA RELEASE

An Upper House inquiry has been established to examine the provision of disability services in New South Wales.

The Hon. Greg Donnelly MLC, Chair of the Committee said: 'The disability sector has undergone significant reform in recent years. This inquiry is an opportunity to examine a range of issues effecting the sector. A key area of interest is the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)'.

When carers kill

Note: we apologise that technical issues mean we cannot replicate this story properly on our website. The full story, showing many victims, is available from the source site: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-23/when-carers-kill/9894514

Sarah Dingle

One person with disabilities is killed by their carer almost every three months in Australia, but these acts of domestic violence are often excused by the media and judiciary. The focus is too often on the killer. Here, we recognise the victims.

World's largest autism grant will transform research landscape

The largest research grant ever given for neurodevelopmental conditions has been awarded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative to an international consortium academically led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London.

The €115 million grant, titled Autism Innovative Medicine Studies-2-Trials (AIMS-2-Trials), will increase our understanding of autism and help develop new therapies to improve health outcomes and quality of life for autistic people.

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