In Australia, children with disabilities only receive additional government funding if they fall into a recognised disability category. As a result, schools and parents often come under pressure to obtain the “right” diagnosis for their child. Such misdiagnosis carries a hidden cost.

Donald Grey Triplett was the first person to be diagnosed with autism. The fulfilling life he has led offers an important lesson for today, John Donvan and Caren Zucker write.

After Rain Man, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, the next great autism portrayal the stage or screen might want to consider taking on is the life of one Donald Grey Triplett, an 82-year-old man living today in a small town in the southern United States, who was there at the very beginning, when the story of autism began.

Brisbane oncologist James Morton — an authority on early intervention — told The Weekend Australian there is a “very real risk” the agency responsible for the NDIS will leave itself open to litigation if it can’t settle the parameters of early intervention.

“The academics and the funding providers need to sit down and do a workshop and fix this,” he said.

The autistic brain is a beautiful mess. There are more synapses in this lump of grey matter than in an ordinary brain. It’s these connections between the brain’s neurons — which regulate signals — that orchestrate the overwhelming sensitivity to outside stimuli.

Noises are louder, smells are stronger, touch is more invasive, light is brighter. For the autistic person, there is a pervasive intensity to the experience of the world around them that makes living in it that much more difficult.

Imagine a childhood without birthday parties invitations; no costumes, giddy sugar highs, warp-speed present unwrapping or hysterical camaraderie.

Sadly, for children with autism, invitations can be few and far between.

They have so much to offer; they are loyal, inspiring and positive. It's just harder to get to know them. 

Katie Koullas

It was during her daughter's first year at school that Katie Koullas​ came to the heartbreaking realisation her daughter Mia, now six  was not being invited to parties.

PAEDIATRICIANS don’t necessarily follow guidelines for diagnosing autism, a lapse which may underpin Australia’s galloping increase in the disorder, an Australian study suggests. 

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most common diagnoses made by paediatricians after ADHD and specific learning disorders, researchers say.

But their study confirms not all of the physicians adhere to diagnostic recommendations for autism more than 50% of the time. 

Donald Grey Triplett was the first person to be diagnosed with autism. The fulfilling life he has led offers an important lesson for today, John Donvan and Caren Zucker write.

After Rain Man, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, the next great autism portrayal the stage or screen might want to consider taking on is the life of one Donald Grey Triplett, an 82-year-old man living today in a small town in the southern United States, who was there at the very beginning, when the story of autism began.

The article by Rick Morton (“Alarm at autism doctor shopping”, 19/1) provides evidence of the abuse of autism support schemes that Andrew Whitehouse says occurs only because parents seek the best for their child (“NDIS provides basis for streamlining autism diagnosis”, 19/1).

A worrying number of private schools are refusing to enrol students with a disability or asking them to leave, a peak advocacy group says.

Children with Disability Australia receives about 500 reports a year of schools, both private and public, mistreating or discriminating against students with a disability.

These range from schools refusing enrolment because they already have "their quota of autistic students" to teachers asking students to leave.