They say a mother's love knows no bounds and soon Queensland's first school for autistic children will open its doors and it’s all thanks to a Brisbane mum's battle for her son.

Cindy Corrie realised that her beloved son Sam reacted differently, even at a tender age, so when he was eventually diagnosed with autism she wasn’t surprised.

"We had a kid who, you know, was really, really special, he looked at the world differently, he has amazing skills," the proud mother told 7 News.

by A/Prof Tamara Walsh and Kathryn Thomas

Executive summary

All Australian children are required by law to attend school, including children with disabilities and other special needs. For children with special needs, inadequate special education services can have significant impacts on their lifelong learning capacity. The Education Acts in the States and Territories outline the kinds of services that can be made available to children with special needs in schools, but they stop short of providing a right to accessible or appropriate education for children.

Hollywood films such as Rain Man and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape have introduced neurotypical audiences to the complex condition that is autism (with the help on non-autistic actors). But on Autistic Pride Day, those living with it speak for themselves, and celebrate the unique way that autism affects each of them.

When Jeanette Purkis was first diagnosed with autism two decades ago, the condition was stigmatised, and poorly understood. From prison to parenthood, she shares her story of surviving, thriving, and learning to accept herself.

As a child, I was very odd. Everyone would say to my mum, 'What's she doing now?' because I was a very energetic child and I was quite naughty, very determined.

When I went to high school, things got very bad. People hated me. People really bullied me and I was the least popular child.

Ron Fournier is the author of the upcoming Love That Boy: What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips, and My Son Taught Me About a Parent’s Expectations.

"Love your child for who he is, not who you want him to be”

Moments after my son was diagnosed with autism, my wife confronted me in the doctor’s parking lot. “It’s time to step up,” Lori said. Be a better father. She told me to take a series of road trips with Tyler—to bond with our 12-year-old boy and teach him to navigate a world that isn’t wired like him.

Turns out, Tyler did the teaching.

By Irena Ceranic

Jemma Victoria Lilley, 25, and Trudi Clare Lenon, 42, were charged after police found the body of Aaron Pajich under a freshly laid concrete slab in the backyard of their home on Broughton Way in Orelia.Two women accused of murdering an 18-year-old man in Perth's southern suburbs have appeared in court.

The Perth Magistrates Court was told Mr Pajich, who had Asperger's syndrome, was killed on June 13, the same day he was last seen at a taxi rank at the Rockingham City Shopping Centre.

Lilley and Lenon were not required to enter a plea and have been remanded to face Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court next Wednesday.

One of the accused women had studied with Mr Pajich at an educational facility in Kwinana.

Timna Jacks

By the age of six, Brandon* had been bullied so cruelly in the playground that he told his parents he wanted to die. 

His distraught parents, Travis and Samantha, battled the Education Department for years for support for their traumatised autistic son, and even submitted a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission. But finally, with help from the right school, his parents have turned their son's life around. 

Donna Sharpe

A Maitland mother has gone to the Human Rights Commission claiming her special needs child has been bullied and discriminated against because of a massive gap in the education system between children with and without disabilities.

The mother, Robyn, who requested we only use her first name, said her son, 13, had been the target of discrimination, excluded from school excursions and continually bullied.