Some stereotypical behaviours of individuals with autism suggest they don’t use a certain type of memory in the same way others might. Annie Spratt/Unsplash

John Munro, Australian Catholic University

Girls and women on the autism spectrum are at higher risk of anorexia nervosa than males, research suggests.

But girls are also more likely than boys to have undiagnosed autism and their symptoms could be mistaken for an eating disorder.

An article in Current Psychiatry Reports by researchers from Kings College London reports between 4 and 52.5 per cent of anorexia patients meet a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, depending on the study. In the general population just 1 per cent have autism.

Sherryn Groch, Kirsten Lawson

A nine-year-old boy who feels "all hope is lost" after being punched, kicked and strangled in the schoolyard remains in the same class as the child responsible.

A family was forced to send their daughter interstate to escape bullying and violence at school, after footage of her assault spread across social media last year.

These are some of the harrowing stories parents have shared with an ACT inquiry into school violence

Gabriella Rogers A new gut-based approach is being trialled in Australia in the hope of overcoming some of the challenges of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

ASD is a group of neurodevelopmental conditions which is often characterised by difficulties in social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviours.

Males are four times more likely than females to have the condition.

Murray Trembath

Support is being sought from Sutherland Shire businesses to help equip a new primary school for children with autism at Loftus.

Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) has received conditional development approval for the school on the site that already includes a TAFE college and University of Wollongong campus and the Cook School for children with challenging behaviour.

"Aspect is planning a staged build to allow students to move in, while some building continues," a spokeswoman said.

A man who terrorised and beat a victim with Asperger syndrome for hours in regional Victoria has been jailed for at least eight years and eight months.

Timothy Mason, 27, was today sentenced to a total of 12 years and four months in prison by the County Court over the February 2018 crime at Geelong.

Mason kidnapped, beat and terrorised a man for up to 20 hours, leaving the victim unrecognisable to his mother.

Struggles with NDIS requirements and the lack of support provided pushed a NSW mother to the point of considering foster care for her daughter.

Elizabeth Noone said she no longer wanted this, but described her experience with the National Disability Insurance Scheme over the past two years as "a nightmare".

Her daughter Jasmine, 11, has autism, an intellectual disability, epilepsy, diabetes, is non-verbal and often becomes agitated.

Perry Duffin

The death of a young woman in the bathroom of a Sydney group home shouldn't be seen as an isolated event and will be one of a number of cases submitted to a royal commission by a leading autism advocacy group.

Merna Aprem was weeks from her 21st birthday when she slipped below the water of her bath at a group home in Sydney's west last week. She couldn't be revived.

Her devastated mother, Tanya Petrus, is demanding to know how her daughter - who had epilepsy and autism - could have been left alone to die.