Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia

Media Release

Autism Asperger Advocacy Australia (A4) calls on the Treasurer, Mr Swan, to ignore the Business Council of Australia’s simplistic and morally bankrupt advice on Disability Support Pensions. The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is calling for cuts to disability support.

In a letter to the Treasurer, Bob Buckley, A4’s Convenor, says “the views of the BCA on this issue are not based on facts and are economically unsound. BCA members, Australia’s top 100 companies, should be embarrassed.”

The A4 Management Group approved A4 sending the letter (link below) to the United Nations periodic review of human rights.

A 1998 STUDY that unleashed a major health scare by linking childhood autism to a triple vaccine was "an elaborate fraud", the British Medical Journal has charged.

Blamed for a disastrous boycott of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in Britain, the study was retracted by The Lancet last year and its senior author disgraced, after the country's longest-running hearing, for conflict of interest and unethical treatment of patients.

The New Zealand High Court has knocked back the Ministry of Health, ruling in favour of nine parents of disabled adults, saying they are eligible for financial support from the ministry.

A group of nine parents of disabled adult children took the Government to the Human Rights Tribunal last year, arguing that it was unfair the Ministry paid carers only if they were not related to the patient.

The tribunal found the ministry had discriminated against the parents, but the ministry appealed the decision to the High Court.

As new cases of autism have exploded in recent years—some form of the condition affects about one in 110 children today—efforts have multiplied to understand and accommodate the condition in childhood. But children with autism will become adults with autism, some 500,000 of them in this decade alone. What then? Meet Donald Gray Triplett, 77, of Forest, Mississippi. He was the first person ever diagnosed with autism.

Williams K, Wheeler DM, Silove N, Hazell P

Summary

ABC Tasmania website

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The Opposition also announced $4.5 million to deliver autism services to children.

"We can provide them with 20 or 30 hours per week of very, very serious intervention strategies," said Liberal health spokesman, Brett Whiteley.

from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/14/2819118.htm

The world's first ever study into the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders among adults shows that one in every hundred adults living in households has the condition – broadly the same rate as that cited for children.

While studies have been carried out into the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders among children, the report from The NHS Information Centre is the first attempt to find and count adults and older people in the community with an autism spectrum disorder, including asperger syndrome.

On February 9th 2010 ABC3 will begin screening Laser Beak Man the animated series at 6.53 a.m. Laser Beak Man is the creation of 21year old Brisbane Artist Tim Sharp. Diagnosed with Autism at age 4 drawing was used as a way of helping Tim to communicate. Tim's quirky super hero reflects Tim's intellect and wicked sense of humour.

As far as we know this may be an Australian first where a young man with Autism has their art turned into a television series. We are asking the Autism community throughout Australia to support the television programme and message of ability and success.

copied from http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/affiliates/