FELICITY NELSON

Patchy services and a lack of national guidelines are delaying the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in children, leading to poorer outcomes, the AMA says.

Australia has fallen behind comparable countries in the timely diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with the condition being picked up at a mean age of about six instead of the ideal age of two.

Iliana Grosse-Buening

The NDIA and Autism CRC are creating a national guideline for autism diagnosis to address delayed diagnoses and other issues rife across state health systems.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by behavioural differences in children, but autism diagnosis is far from straightforward.

Now, the Cooperative Research Centre for Autism Diagnosis (Autism CRC) and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) have joined forces to implement a national guideline for diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Dear The Hon. J Prentice MP

Thank you for the Christmas card that you sent me.

However, I am concerned. When we met recently, it seems your staff had advised that Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, known as A4, was excluded from your disability consultation processes because organisers in your Department did not have A4's address; they claimed that they didn't know which state A4 was located in so A4 was left off all the lists.

But they did know the address to send a Christmas card to A4's Convenor.

Ten thousand disabled workers who were underpaid at government-funded workshops across the country will be able to claim compensation from the Commonwealth, following a Federal Court ruling.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn led a representative class action, after the productivity tool used to determine what wages employees at Australian Disability Enterprises received was found to be discriminatory.

Schools are “struggling” to provide for autistic pupils following a 25 per cent increase in autism diagnoses in the past four years, according to government data and local area inspection letters.

The first published inspections of councils’ “local offers” for special education needs and disability (SEND) provision warn of rising autism referrals and lengthy waits – with a nearly 40 per cent increase in pupils with autism statements since 2012 in one area.

Michael Bernick 

Where is employment for adults with autism and other neurodiverse (developmental and learning) differences heading in 2017? What employment assistance or initiatives offer the greatest promise? If you want to help someone you know who is part of the neurodiverse workforce what should you be doing in 2017?

The Integrated Plan for Carer Support Services (the Plan) seems to fall well short of needs.

In a quick review (conducted December 2016), the Carer Gateway (see http://www.carergateway.gov.au/) was unhelpful. In particular, it lacked sensitivity to location and disability type(s).

 Soo Kim, travel writer 

Airports in Britain are being urged to provide better support for passengers with “hidden disabilities” under new guidelines issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).