By Lisa Martin, From: AAP, March 11, 2010 6:01PM

• Autistic children kept in fenced area
• Treatment inhumane, says NSW Opposition
• Matter of safety, says Education Department

A SYDNEY primary school that pens children with autism in a fenced area at lunchtimes should be investigated for human rights violations, the New South Wales Opposition says.

Parents with children at Seven Hills West Public School are angry that pupils with special needs are placed inside a fenced enclosure that has one tree, a bench and a dirt floor.

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID (AP)

WASHINGTON — The vaccine additive thimerosal is not to blame for autism, a special federal court ruled Friday in a long-running battle by parents convinced there is a connection.

While expressing sympathy for the parents involved in the emotionally charged cases, the court concluded they had failed to show a connection between the mercury-containing preservative and autism.

Will Australia's flawed disability support system be reformed in time to save families now at breaking point?

See video, transcript, extended interview and audience forum at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20100215/disability/

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This week saw the release of a draft of the next edition of the main diagnostic bible used in psychiatry, the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

The long process ‘by committee’ has been controversial, and in a first for the American Psychiatric Association (APA), a draft has been made public for people to read and feedback on here. They even have a Facebook page, with a call for fans.

Here’s what the chairs of the APA’s DSM-5 taskforce have to say to you:

Psychology Today's 'Asperger's Diary' blogger, Lynne Soraya, reflects powerfully on what this means to her, and on the confusion and clarity
of labels. Read her full post here.

GREG BARNS, February 15, 2010

TASMANIA'S politicians deserve an accolade for refusing to be drawn, into a law and order auction during the election campaign.

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report from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007

Summary

LAUREN NOVAK, POLITICAL REPORTER February 01, 2010 12:32PM

THE Liberal Opposition has pledged to set up a school specifically for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder if elected next month.

Leader Isobel Redmond announced this morning the party would establish a school staffed and designed to "meet the needs" of those children while also putting resources towards special needs children who remain in mainstream schools.

She said there was great demand from parents, who had been lobbying the government for such a solution.