Andrew Whitehouse, University of Western Australia

One of the great and enduring mysteries of autism is what causes the brain to develop so differently. The behavioural differences of many individuals with autism are so apparent that it seems intuitive that the causes would also be obvious.

Media Release

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, the national grassroot autism advocacy group known as A4, regards the Health Department's omission of autism from its recent report on The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents as negligent.

Australian authorities have denied disabled Australia-born children the access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) because of their parents’ citizenship of New Zealand.

Severely disabled children born in Australia are being denied access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) because their parents are New Zealand citizens.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Children born in Australia are being barred from accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme because their parents are from New Zealand.



Access is denied to children born in Australia to Kiwi parents who are not eligible for Australian citizenship, until they turn 10.



New Zealand politicians are protesting and disability advocates say it's a clear case of discrimination 



Here's Natasha Robinson:



(Sound of child playing in park)

Peter Parry

A recent survey of paediatricians found they often lacked enough information to accurately diagnose an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. ASD is an important diagnosis not to miss. But it is equally important not to make the diagnosis when it is not truly present.

A recent survey of paediatricians found they often lacked enough information to accurately diagnose an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. ASD is an important diagnosis not to miss. But it is equally important not to make the diagnosis when it is not truly present.

A disability advocate, Ms Julie Phillips, wrote this letter (link here PDF 3.5Mb) to the David Bowen, CEO of the NDIA, about early intervention for autism spectrum disorder. The letter starts:

I refer to the recent article in The Australian earlier this week 'Autism Cost Estimates Wrong'.

The article in The Australian that she refers to is available here: Bob Buckley: NDIS autism cost estimates ‘wrong’