Our community's success with self advocacy raises new issues for all

April is Autism Month, which means many things to the ten-plus million people who make up our community in America.  For some, it’s Autism Awareness.  For others, it’s Autism Acceptance.  And there are those who wish for Autism Cure.   We have yet to agree on what we want, or what to stand for, and that holds us back in terms of advocacy.  We also don’t agree when it comes to who’s part of our community.

My boy, with his classic autism, the kind that used to be the only face of autism half a century ago, is the one who does not belong now.

There is a child at this event, as cute as any Baby Gap model, thick tufts of brown hair sticking out from under his baseball hat.  

“I’m Charlie. I’m 4, ” he says to me and sticks his hand out.  

I smile at him and reach my hand out too, but before he can shake my hand, he runs off to chase the other children.

Tighter eligibility rules, disappointment among those given false hope but an affordable program for the nation — this is the realistic scenario for the National Disability Insurance Scheme according to the Australian Lawyers Alliance, whose submission to the Productivity Commission is reported in our pages today.

Earlier this week, the White House and autism organizations around the world celebrated the 10^th annual World Autism Awareness Day. Actor William Shatner, best known for his role in Star Trek, changed his profile icon and tweeted his support into the related hashtag to draw awareness to the disability. Today, he was inundated with outrage from social justice warriors likened his support for autism awareness to hate speech. They further expressed their anger towards organizations like Autism Speaks, which sponsored the event.

The number of Australian children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder may have skyrocketed but many will be "un-diagnosed" in adulthood.

Early diagnosis and programs are helping those with Asperger syndrome - now known as high functioning autism - deal with social deficits and other challenges.

"We are now getting people who become what we technically call sub-clinical," autism guru Dr Tony Attwood told AAP.

This means they've reached a "level of expression" that doesn't need specialist services or support.

NADIA ISA

Society needs to stop considering autism spectrum disorder as a deficit and start embracing difference, a South Australian expert in special education says.

Department of Education and Child Development special educator Kathy Kleinschmidt said autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was just that; a spectrum, and many ASD children were highly functioning — if just a little bit quirky.

Ms Kleinschmidt said high-functioning ASD children should be able to attend mainstream schools, but there needed to be education and tools available to staff.

Tamara McDonald

Tasmania has the highest rate of people living with autism in Australia.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data for 2015, released on Wednesday, showed an estimated 1 per cent of the population in both Tasmania and South Australia had autism, the country’s highest rate.

The lowest was 0.5 per cent in Western Australia.