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With one in 100 Australians diagnosed as ‘on the spectrum’, autism may well be the disorder that defines this generation

By bobb |

Please note: in 2012, 1 in 62 Australian children were diagnosed with Autistic Disorder or Asperger's Disorder; they were formally registered to receive Carer's Allowance from Centrelink (see http://a4.org.au/a4/node/695 and http://a4.org.au/a4/node/622).

Lucie Van Den Berg Weekend Herald Sun, March 29, 2014

Minister for Employment gets bad advice ... makes for bad policy and mad government

By bobb |

Senator the Honourable Eric Abetz, Minister for Employment, is getting bad advice. Without having asked his Department for relevant information, Senator Abetz told the ABC's Q&A audience

The circumstances and the statistics that have been put to me on many occasions and to the Government indicates that the growth in the Disability Support Pension is unrelated to the other factors that you might suspect would see that change ...

Bad advice leads to bad policy and mad Government. [Wrong] assumptions are the fathers of all great f**k-ups.

Disabled not rorting the support pension, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes hits back

By bobb |

Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes has slammed suggestions the disability support pension is being rorted. Photo: Wolter Peeters

Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes has hit back at the idea that there are too many people on the disability support pension, slamming claims that the system is being rorted as "completely unhelpful".

National disability scheme is excluding people affected by autism

By bobb |

Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme's (NDIS) Operational Guidelines – Access are dysfunctional in relation to autism spectrum disorder. The NDIS fails many people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), denying them the services and supports they need.

People with ASD are among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in Australia. The Government is not giving people with ASD a fair go. The message is simple. Government needs to act to support people with ASD and to improve their outcomes. The NDIS eligibility criteria are designed to exclude some people with autism spectrum disorder from the NDIS, people who are assessed as needing disability services by allied health professionals with specific expertise in ASD. And for those people with ASD who are deemed eligible for the NDIS service and support, NDIS individual planners (gatekeepers), who mostly lack expertise in and understanding of autism, reject some requests for essential disability services and supports.

Following is the evidence and justification for this simple claim that the NDIS, the scheme created to address the enormous disadvantage that Australians with a disability experience, in its initial implementation is failing people with ASD.

employ people with a disability - can you afford not to?

By bobb |

This video is worth watching. It discusses the substantial benefits of employing people with a disability.

Benefits include more productivity and profitability. Proponents appearing in the video are serious businesses.

Can businesses afford to not employ people with a disability? Really!

Why can't Australian employers see this? How much damage is employer short-sightedness doing to this nation's economy?

right to education for a child with disability being decided in NZ

By bobb |

The NZ High Court "found that Green Bay High School in Auckland was not justified in excluding a student with Asperger's syndrome, following a row he had with a teacher." [see article]. This may not be over yet.

I am not a lawyer and I do not know NZ law. I know that under international law, paragraph 3 in Article 23 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRoC) says every child has a right to "education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services [and] preparation for employment" ... and that "the state" is ultimately responsible for ensuring this happens. Specifically, in relation to children with a disability, the CRoC says ...

... assistance ... shall be provided free of charge ... and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development ...

Tasmanian Liberal's autism policy for 2014 state election

By bobb |


The Tasmanian Liberal Party has a policy that aims to improve services and outcomes for Tasmanian children with autism. The Liberal Party website says:

A majority Liberal Government will also invest $1 million to kick-start a longer-term strategy to implement best practice autism care to Tasmania, including introducing the American-based Rethink Autism program to the State.

Australian Governments don't educate children with autism

By bobb |

For some Australian children with autism, access to education is impossible … and Australian Governments just don't care.

A recent news item (see http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/2044236/parents-call-for-auti…) shows yet another group of parents calling for “an autism-specific school, to ensure their children's [education] needs are met”.

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