Disability advocate hits back at ‘misleading’ claims that NDIS funding is incentivising autism diagnoses

By bobb | Wed, 22/11/2023 - 14:24

Stephanie Convery

Chief of Children and Young People with Disability Australia says families are simply seeking help for their children, with the NDIS ‘the only place to turn’

An advocate for people with disabilities has criticised as “unhelpful” and “misleading” reports suggesting families are pursuing autism diagnoses because they see the NDIS as a financial opportunity.

The NDIS is being rorted, but not by autistic people like me

By bobb | Mon, 20/11/2023 - 13:56

Elena Filipczyk Autistic writer

It took me two years after my formal autism diagnosis to build up the courage to ask my kind, empathetic GP to help me access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). I was mortified, but most of all, I felt like an impostor.

As my GP smiled warmly and took the paperwork off me, she admitted she’d never filled in an NDIS form before. I looked down at my feet and dug my nails into my palms. Was I wasting her time? Was I wasting government money?

Autistic drivers could find their licences in legal limbo depending on where they live after new standards introduced

By bobb | Mon, 20/11/2023 - 13:41

Danielle Cahill

Thousands of autistic drivers could find their Australian licences are in legal limbo due to changes quietly made last year to the national standards that govern who is considered fit to drive.

The national 2022 Assessing Fitness to Drive standards are the first to list autism as a condition that "should be assessed individually", which may involve a practical assessment.

Why do some children lose their autism diagnosis?

By bobb | Tue, 10/10/2023 - 06:26
A study published 2 October in JAMA Pediatrics reports that 79 of 213 children who were diagnosed with autism at 12 to 36 months of age no longer met criteria for the condition at 5 to 7 years old. Spectrum asked autism researcher Deborah Fein, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, for her thoughts on the findings. In a 2013 study, Fein and her colleagues described a sample of people who lost their autism diagnosis.

cruel NDIS policy targets the most autistic and vulnerable NDIS participants

By convenor | Mon, 25/9/2023 - 10:06

NDIS policy (AAT Case Management Guide Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) - see below) fails some of the youngest and most severely autistic NDIS participants. Clinicians advise that some children with severe/profound or classic autism need intensive early intervention for their autism. NDIS policy (see below) says funding for the required early intervention depends on families winning a case against the government in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

‘Quick and dirty’ NDIS review faces backlash from disability advocates

By bobb | Tue, 12/9/2023 - 13:51

Stephen Lunn

A “quick and dirty” review of the $35bn-a-year National Disability ­Insurance Scheme will not ­address its longstanding problems in time to meet national cabinet’s hard cost-control targets set for three years from now, advocates have warned, signalling a fresh battle over its future.

Actuarial student's issues with autism

By convenor | Sat, 9/9/2023 - 17:53

An actuarial student at the ANU has been writing adversely about autism and the NDIS. 

A4 expressed concerns that some of the mainstream media was linking her work to the NDIS. The NDIS indicated that

She does not represent the views of the agency and we are in contact with her to ensure she is clear in any future work with ANU that her views are her own.

A4's communication with the NDIS can be seen below.