Elliot Mitchell

They didn’t hurt anyone, break anything or smoke.

Maybe it’s the venue. An empty school has an unsettling vibe, and we’re meeting on the first day of the holidays, with no kids around. A single shaft of sunlight pierces the room to sad effect. Or maybe it’s just that I’m tired. Because I am. Very tired.

Aaron Bunch

A supervisor at a NSW residential care home for disabled people was charged with assault, stalking and intimidation over his treatment of a blind and autistic man, an inquiry has heard.

The same carer was also accused of sexual misconduct towards a teenage girl in another facility and supervisory neglect after allegedly falsifying a client's medication chart.

Rebecca Puddy

Jessica's son was four years old when she was told he was no longer welcome at his school, and according to some experts, she is not alone in her plight.

Amy S.F. Lutz

Chris Woods

Crux of the matter

In a landmark reform agenda, the Victorian Public Advocate has called for nation-wide cognitive disability screening for prisoners and a series of accompanying support services.

A family who claim their disabled child was discriminated against because he was restrained in a Queensland school have lost their appeal in court.

Steve Zemek

A disabled boy who sued the Queensland government because he was suspended and tied up at school due to his behaviour problems has lost his bitter legal feud with the state after having his appeal dismissed.

The NDIS has resumed its pilot into independent assessments, which aims to improve the “equity and consistency” in the organisation’s decision making.

But Autism Awareness Australia CEO Nicole Rogerson said the assessment for her son Jack - who lives with Autism - "didn't go to plan" and had to be ended early.

“They sat down with a list of things he couldn’t do and asked him to rate his own disability,” Mrs Rogerson told Ali Moore on ABC Radio Melbourne.

“He was embarrassed - he was looking between his dad and I and the assessor.”

Nick McAllister

The practice of someone being undiagnosed on the autism spectrum and masking their autism is not as uncommon as you might think.

Key points:

• Masking can be a way of "camouflaging" your autism
• People with autism can be motivated to do it fit in
• But it can be damaging in the long term and exhausting to keep it up

For 40 years, I hid my autism from the world as a way of ensuring those around me would accept me.

I mimicked their social interactions and behaviours and sailed through life.