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.

Some people with disabilities say the National Disability Insurance Scheme appeals process is “soul-destroying”. An overwhelming number of them are attending hearings at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) without legal representation.

Rachael Thompson, a lawyer from Rights Information Advocacy Centre, a Victorian public legal service for people with disabilities, says many of the centre’s clients have suffered additional mental and physical health issues due to the stress of the appeals process.

An estimated one in 70 Australians are on the autism spectrum, but many are out of work. They and their advocates say employers need to do more to make workplaces more neurodiverse, and businesses will improve as a result.

BY DARREN MARA

Advocates for people with autism have made growing calls for more workplaces in Australia to embrace neurodiversity, in a bid to reverse alarming unemployment rates for people on the spectrum. 

Claire Sadler

"It was a half hour bus to the station, a 15 minute train to Rockingham, a half hour bus to Kwinana bus port, and then another hour bus out to the Rockingham, Fremantle Naval Yard then there was a half hour walk from there."

Those are the words from Alex Hutt, explaining his over two hour journey just to get to his previous unpaid work experience.

JOHN FERGUSON

Two teachers and two support staff discussed putting up to six disabled children in a cage fight at a regional Victorian school ­already facing three investigations after complaints of mistreatment relating to dozens of alleged incidents.

The Weekend Australian has obtained evidence of a shocking online discussion by staff at the Latrobe Special Developmental School in Gippsland, in which they talk about creating a cage fight for up to six children, all of whom had disabilities.

Josh Bavas

An autism awareness advocate is calling on schools across the country to ensure they properly treat children with a disability, after revelations a Sydney school is under investigation for installing locks on rooms for students who misbehave.

The New South Wales Department of Education is investigating a Penshurst West Public School, in Sydney's south, after concerned parents discovered locks were installed on a small "sensory room".

Katerina Ferekos, whose seven-year-old son Yianni is enrolled at the school, raised concerns with the principal earlier this year.

David Trembath, Griffith University; Andrew Whitehouse, University of Western Australia; Hannah Waddington,