Show news for a region of your choice (mostly Austraian news).

'Massive pressure': special needs classes clustered in Sydney's west

By bobb |

Jordan Baker & Nigel Gladstone

Special needs classes in public schools are heavily concentrated in the most disadvantaged parts of Sydney, with 92 in the Blacktown local government area alone but none in Hunters Hill, Lane Cove or Mosman.

In the Liverpool and Campbelltown council areas there is an average of just over one class for students with disabilities per school, an analysis of NSW Department of Education figures by the Herald shows.

WA: Former Christ Church Grammar school psychologist Agni Angelkovska ‘simply lost the plot’ in attack on autistic student

By bobb |

Shannon Hampton

A senior psychologist at a prestigious Perth school has been fined $2000 for assaulting a 12-year-old autistic boy by throwing a cup of water at him.

But a magistrate today acquitted Agni Angelkovska, 50, of using the boy’s hands to slap himself in the face during a “protracted” struggle at Christ Church Grammar School in November 2014.

During a three-day trial earlier this month, the court was told the boy had to be carried by four staff members at the private school to a sensory room after he had a “meltdown”.

Fighting NDIS planning decisions through tribunal a long, difficult and frustrating process, Hunter families say

By bobb |

Anita Beaumont

THE “exhaustive” process of contesting a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plan can eventually work, but only for those who are willing to wait, and able to fight, Hunter families say.

Anna Noon, of Speers Point, said it took 14 months to go through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) after her son’s plan was slashed by more than 70 per cent without warning.

Her son, Zach, became an NDIS participant during the trial of the scheme in the Hunter.

Autism community hits back at comments from professor Jeremy Nicholson

By bobb |

Kate Campbell

Claims from a world-leading professor, that autism is a silently growing monster and forms of it can be prevented, have prompted outrage within the autism community.

The Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct in Perth's southern suburbs is set to become home to one of the world's leading research laboratories - the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC). Harry Perkins Research Institute at Fiona Stanley Hospital to house Australia's first phenome research centre. Phenomics set to revolutionise the way disease is diagnosed and treated.

Disability service providers referred to police after Victorian deaths in care

By bobb |

Biwa Kwan

The Victorian Services Commissioner has referred disability service providers to the police for possible criminal investigation over the deaths of people receiving disability care.

The report by the Victorian Disability Services Commissioner found 'significant failures' in the provision of disability services, which resulted in death in 2017-18. 

Restraint of People with Autism and Developmental Disability

By bobb |

John Elder Robison

Some institutions can restrain people against their will. Should it be allowed?

Restraint is emerging as a hot-button topic among autistic self-advocates and some parents.  

People on both sides feel their position is obviously correct: Restraint leads to abuse, and should be banned; or restraint is necessary for the safety of some people, and those who deny it are crazy or idealistic.