A woman who says she has been denied a new wheelchair for her severely disabled daughter has invited her local MP — who is also the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme — to sit in on a meeting about the girl's needs.

Gold Coast resident Shannon Manning said seven-year-old Meadow had severe autism and required a wheelchair to go out in public, but had been knocked back because she was "not disabled enough".

Nicholette Zeliadt 

An experimental behavioral therapy delivered by parents does not improve autism traits in babies who screen positive for the condition, according to a new study¹.

The results are disappointing, say independent experts, because they had high hopes for this particular approach’s promise in mitigating the severity of autism traits.

Ashley Argoon

Victorian school kids are being diagnosed with severe behaviour disorders at rocketing rates as a principal claims children have to reach “crisis level” before they get support.

The number of children funded for severe behaviour — disruptive and sometimes violent conduct — is escalating, with almost double the cases to four years ago.

Angus Livingston

The number of people who need autism support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme is still rising despite rules being tightened to exclude more applicants.

New data shows autism rates of people accepted into the NDIS are increasing, even though the rate of people with autism rendered ineligible for the scheme has jumped significantly.

The NDIS cracked down on autism diagnoses in early 2018 and data released on Tuesday shows growth in access to the scheme trended down after a high point in June last year.

There's a push in many Australian workplaces towards cultural diversity and gender diversity, but what about neurodiversity? A third of people on the autism spectrum are unemployed - more than six times the average. Now one of the biggest names in technology believes people with autism are an untapped resource of brains that think differently.

Transcript

LAURA TINGLE, PRESENTER: There's a push in many Australian workplaces towards cultural diversity and gender diversity but what about neuro diversity?

Andrew Whitehouse; Kandice Varcin, and Kristelle Hudry

Therapies given to infants before they receive a diagnosis of autism may lead to important improvements in their language abilities, according to our new research published today in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

Children with autism typically begin therapy after receiving a diagnosis, which usually doesn’t occur until at least two years of age.

However, our new study suggests that starting therapy with 12-month-old infants who show early behavioural signs of autism may provide additional benefit.

An Indian Catholic priest who claims to have "cured" autism through prayer and compared autistic children to "animals", has cancelled a planned series of religious retreats in Australia.

Father Dominic Valanmanal was recently forced to cancel similar events in Ireland and Canada, after a video clip appeared online showing him preaching that autism in children was caused by the vice of their parents.