Alan Jones gives a monologue on what Bob Buckley thinks/says ... 

then talks with Prof. Andrew Whithouse.

This is for Alan Jones fans.

http://www.2gb.com/article/alan-jones-%…

For the first time, a nationally-consistent approach to supporting children with developmental delay or disability will exist with the release today of the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s (NDIS) Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Approach.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has worked with some of Australia’s leading early childhood intervention practitioners and researchers to design a best-practice approach that is family-centred and importantly, supports children to achieve good outcomes on a case-by-case basis.

The $22 billion national disability insurance scheme agency will release a scant six-page “approach” to early intervention, its long-awaited strategy to deal with ballooning numbers of children diagnosed with autism and potential cost over-runs.

The six-page document has been criticised by the sector as being “laughably deficient” and contains no detail at all about how children will be included in the scheme with the key initiative being to split more than half of the 106,000 children with a disability into “family” support which won’t cost the NDIS any money.

A panel of autism experts commissioned to advise the National Disability Insurance Agency on the condition has recommended children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis receive at least 20 hours a week of early intervention, delivered either one-to-one or in a small group.

In a report to be released on Friday, the panel, which comprised a range of academics, teachers and advocates,  backed the best practice intervention for young children, which can cost up to $80,000 a year.

Qld kids with autism will stay in class

Queensland's education minister has ruled out separating children with autism from the rest of their class, despite teachers complaining they disrupt their peers' learning.

Kate Jones and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Wednesday opened the new $2 million Autism Hub and Reading Centre - an Australian first - in the inner-Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba.

Ms Jones was asked whether the government would reconsider a policy to keep children with autism in the classroom, given the level of disruption teachers say they create.

Examine the teeth of a reticent patient in their car? Sure.

Use a heavy X-ray apron as a blanket to soothe a patient with autism? Happens all the time.  

"Jess is treated with dignity and respect, and why shouldn't she be?"

Sandra Younghusband

Andrew Whitehouse, University of Western Australia

One of the great and enduring mysteries of autism is what causes the brain to develop so differently. The behavioural differences of many individuals with autism are so apparent that it seems intuitive that the causes would also be obvious.

New South Wales education officials have suspended their investigation into claims a Hunter boy with autism was locked in a cupboard, pending a police probe.

Police confirmed they were investigating the alleged incident, after the ABC revealed claims made by the boy's father David Roy.

He alleged his son was locked in a cupboard while attending a special needs unit at a Hunter region school in 2013.

Labor state member for Charlestown, Jodie Harrison, asked the Government for an independent investigation.

Teams of reporters are cornering candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire, and pressing them to pay attention to issues that are often ignored.

Warning: the following story is likely to be very alarming for people.

Dressed in only a fleece jumper and track pants, the 11-year-old was placed on a garden chair in the cold and dark surrounds of an aluminium shed.

From where he sat in the single-digit temperatures with his arms bound to the chair with masking tape, the heater would have been in view.