We got an email ...
Dear Parents & Parent Support Groups,
please see attached update of the Autism State Plan.
I apologise for cross postings.
regards
Meredith Ward
I assume Meredith meant October 2008 as the date on her documents ...
Hi Everyone,
I have a seven year old high functioning asperger's boy and would like to hear from any one who has similar aged asperger's children who live in the Ballarat area. Because i work day shift i can not get to the asperger's group meetings but i would really like to just meet for coffee and get to know other parents with asperger's children.
We are all capable of the extraordinary savant skills displayed by people with autism according to Professor Allan Snyder, speaking at the Royal Society today. Snyder argues that it is our inbuilt expectations of the world that stop us from using them.
Prof Snyder spoke on the savant syndrome and his efforts to 'turn on' autistic savant skills in people who don't have autism at a discussion meeting jointly organised by the Royal Society and the British Academy. Snyder is director of the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney, Australia.
The Bercow review, published today, has confirmed what many parents of children with autism have been telling us: provision for children with speech, language and communication needs is inadequate and must improve.
We strongly welcome Bercow's crucial emphasis on early identification and intervention and support his call for an assessment process and better speech and language services. It is also imperative that parents get the right support to understand both the needs of their child and what help is available to them.
The Victorian Better Health website has a page on "autism" (see http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Autism). I see several problems with their page.
Autism/ASD has become a more significant issue in Australian Government.
The United Nations today co-launched a conference on autism designed to promote quicker intervention, more compassion and greater acceptance of those afflicted.
“Not too long ago, those affected by autism-related disorders were set aside: placed in institutions or dismissed as untreatable ‘lost cases’,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s wife, Ban Soon-taek, who co-sponsored the event with First Ladies Laura Bush of the United States and Dorrit Moussaieff of Iceland.
Autism Speaks in the USA released a resource kit for children with autism entering school. The link to the webpage is here. Download the 202 page PDF file here.
