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Autism advocate withdraws from NDIS contacted assessment pilot

Submitted by convenor on

Comments on twitter indicate that an NDIS "independent assessment", part of its pilot, did not go well.

This is hardly surprising. The NDIA's CEO sent a letter to all NDIS participants claiming "The [NDIA's assessment] tools have been ... used all over the world for many years". There is no such tool for assessing the capability, and more importantly the support needs, of autistic people. There most certainly is no assessment tool for ASD that has been used, and shown to be accurate, "all over the world for many years".

ABS autism data 2018

Submitted by convenor on

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data about autism from its 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) - see https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@...

The ABS reports that in 2018:

  • there were 205,200 autistic Australians (estimated), a 25.1% increase from 164,000 in 2015
  • over 3% of children aged 5-14 years are diagnosed autistic.
  • "males were 3.5 times more likely than females to [be autistic]".
  • the number of autistic Australians with severe of profound disability was 68.9% in 2018
  • outcomes for autistic people in education and employment remain abysmal
  • and much more.

commentary on NDIS deep dive into autism data - July 2019

Submitted by bobb on

scuba diver swimming in very clear water

Here is my quick/cursory commentary on the ASD data that the NDIS provided 30/7/2019. Unfortunately, the document was unavailable from the NDIS for a while. A4 made it available: download it from the links below.
The document reappeared on the NDIS website; you can download it from the page: https://data.ndis.gov.au/reports-and-analyses/outcomes-participants-auti...

Overall, I welcome this increased reporting on the NDIS. Reporting like this helps identify how the NDIS can improve outcomes for autistic Australians. Article 31 of the UN CRPD requires the dissemination of relevant statistics but other Articles of the Convention indicate the NDIS should consult better about what information is monitored and reported.

NDIS introduces onerous and inequitable eligibility requirements for autistic children

Submitted by convenor on

On the 23/5/2018, the Minister for Social Security wrote to autism organisations to "assure" them that there would be "extensive consultation with stakeholders and the community" before making any changes to NDIS eligibility (see http://a4.org.au/node/1761).

Three days later, on the 26/5/2018, the NDIS tweeted that it "updated our website" and provided a link to https://ndis.gov.au/people-with-disability/access-requirements/completing-your-access-request-form/evidence-of-disability. The web page has new eligibility requirements. Autism stakeholders were not consulted about the changes to the NDIS eligibility process that appeared on that webpage.

Hanson's view of autistic children is simply Australian law

Submitted by bobb on

The disability sector in Australia strongly condemns Senator Hanson for her recently expressed view that schools should "get rid" of autistic students from mainstream classrooms; see Pauline Hanson says autistic kids should be removed from mainstream classes and Senator Hanson needs to go back to school.

However, people should understand this issue better.

Autistic children in Australia have no right to education

Submitted by convenor on

Bob Buckley

I am not a lawyer, so you cannot rely on my opinion; make sure you get professional advice in relation to this subject.

The US Supreme Court is about to hear a case about the quality of education for an autistic student - see http://www.bazelon.org/In-Court/Current-...

incredible numbers of 'school students with disability'

Submitted by bobb on

Bob Buckley

Recently, the Education Council released its first report based on data collected for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data: School Students with Disability.

The report describes 18% of school students as having disability. This rate of disability among school students in the major states (see Table 3 in the report) aligns remarkably closely with the average disability rate (18%) in the Australian population. But this level of disability is far more students than other reports of children with disability.

Government persists with same old disability vilification strategy ... expecting a different employment result

Submitted by bobb on

Yet again, the Government is kicking people off welfare benefits hoping that they will move into jobs (see Crackdown throws thousands off disability support pension).  This pathetic repetition of oft tried and always failed approach comes from a Government that is crowing about innovation: it clearly shows Governments cannot come up with a new approach. 

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