Georgina Mitchell, SMH

A school in Sydney's west has denied it repeatedly locked an autistic boy in a cage-like structure and left him there alone, despite the boy's mother saying she witnessed it happen and the boy describing how he tried to climb out.

Lynda Jordan said her son Toby, 13, who has a mild intellectual disability, was locked into the structure at the Aspect Macarthur School in Cobbitty whenever he had a "meltdown", a process which caused him significant distress.

A key support service for more than 2000 people affected by autism and Asperger's syndrome has been saved by a last-minute merger after funding changes sparked by the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme cast doubt over its future.

Autism Asperger ACT services are to be folded into a specialised autism unit run by Canberra-based organisation Marymead under a move hoped to bolster support for children and families. 

Children with disabilities could face new risks under the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), a national inquiry has been told.

Gail Furness, SC, counsel assisting the royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse, said greater choice and control under the NDIS, which is being rolled out across the nation, means "the ways in which children with disability are protected in institutions will need to deal with the risks".

A class assignment turned into something more for one family after their son wrote a touching poem and gave a peek into life with autism. 

Benjamin Giroux, a 10-year-old boy who is on the spectrum, wrote a poem titled “I Am” as an assignment for his fifth grade class. His father, Sonny Giroux, explained to The Huffington Post that every line of the poem already included two words like "I am" and "I wonder" as a prompt for the students to complete. In his poem, Benjamin wrote that he is “odd” and “new” and that he feels “like a castaway.”

Getting to be a valued member of their community should be the norm for all kids -- but for kids with autism, it is too frequently not the case.

PEOPLE with lived experience of autism are driving a new advocacy organisation that has launched in Bendigo.

The Bendigo Autistic Advocacy and Support Service has set up shop in Wills Street, along with disability support provider Distinctive Options.

“This is amazing. We have an amazing network of families and autistic people in this town, and finally we’ve got a place to call home,” founder Beck Kelly said.

A report into school autism services has found a far higher prevalence of the condition among school students than previously thought.

The study, carried out for the National Council for Special Education, found that one in 65 school students has a diagnosis of autism. That equates to a total of around 14,000.

Previous estimates were of one in every 100 pupils.