By Emily Bryan

Tue 27 Jan 2015

PHOTO: The early learning centre in Burnie supports 46 pre-school children. (ABC News: Emily Bryan)

The Autism Early Learning Centre in Burnie, which supports 46 pre-school children, will only be funded until June.An autism centre in Tasmania's north-west is facing an unknown future after being given no funding guarantees by the Federal Government.

Beyond that, ongoing funding will be assessed in the context of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the rollout of which begins mid-2016.

The Federal Social Services Department said decisions on the centre's future will be based on a range of evidence.

But the fact that the NDIS required services to compete in a demand-driven market has the centre's supporters worried.

Kathryn Fordyce, who manages the centre, said she did not how it would adapt to NDIS requirements or whether it could survive without funding until the rollout starts.

"I'm hopeful, and certainly our families really the support," she said.

Two men and two women have allegedly attacked and robbed an autistic man after luring him to the Chisholm shops car park on Monday.

ACT Policing is seeking witnesses to the robbery, and believe the attack occured between 3.30am and 4.10am.

Police say the autistic man was lured to the Chisholm shops car park, after receiving a phone call from an unknown person asking him to meet them there.

When he arrived two men and two women approached him and verbally abused him.

Media Release

This week saw a major milestone for autism advocacy in Australia. The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) helped Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) prepare and distribute a media release. It was the first time ever that the wider disability community in Australia recognised and helped advocate for specific issues/needs of people living with autism.

National Disability Insurance Agency chief executive David Bowen.Photo: Graham Tidy

The chief executive of the National Disability Insurance Agency has admitted there are gaps in coverage for some ACT families, as administrators respond to criticism regarding delays, bureaucracy and complicated paperwork.

The myth of the ‘extreme male brain’ means women with autism are struggling to get the help they need

Women with autism are often vulnerable to abuse. Photograph: Alamy

Rachel Williams Tuesday 6 January 2015

Media Release

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4), the national peak body for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is appealing to Scott Morrison MP, the Minister for Social Services not to turn his back on people with autism.

Philip Gluyas has taken on American anti-autism bloggers in court.

Two "keyboard warriors" - one in Victoria and one in Los Angeles - were involved in heated online arguments over the existence of autism that quickly escalated into death threats, a court has heard.

Philip Gluyas, 49, an umpire in the Ballarat junior football league with Asperger's syndrome, claims to be living in fear after anti-autism blogger Oliver Canby urged people to kill him in a series of posts on the website 'Autism is Bad'.

Canby, who lives in Los Angeles, wanted people to show up at Mr Gluyas' Sebastopol home and murder him, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.

Canby, who does not believe Asperger's exists, claimed he would offer a $500 reward to anyone who carried out the murder.

Mr Gluyas, an outspoken advocate for the rights of people with autism, is suing Canby in the Victorian Supreme Court for defamation claiming he had made false and malicious statements about him, exposing him to hate, ridicule and contempt.

Mr Gluyas, who runs the blog 'Phil Gluyas: Autism News and Views. The truth about Autism is here', was first diagnosed with Asperger's in 1997. The condition is considered to be part of the autism spectrum.

The Hon Scott Morrison MP
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Minister Morrison MP

Subject: Open letter on people living with autism, and request to meet

Your website shows that with new responsibilities in Social Security you have turned your attention to “our welfare system” and “our safety net”. Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) asks to meet you to discuss the serious issues relating to welfare and supports for people living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).