Agron Latifi

Warrawong mother Louise Jane Maffullo is at her wits end.

Her year long efforts to secure a Disability Support Pension (DSP) for her 17-year-old autistic son Bryce Maffullo have proved fruitless.

And this has frustrated Mrs Maffullo, who can’t fathom how Bryce is eligible for special needs assistance at Warrawong High School but the Department of Social Services won’t offer similar help.

“Mummy, my teacher told me to go to Tanjung Rambutan (the nation’s oldest mental institution and now known as Hospital Bahagia, located in Perak). But I’m not crazy, mummy.” The words uttered to her by her son, Dennis Liew, more than 20 years ago when he was still in primary school continue to haunt Patricia Lim.

BENDIGO autism advocates have urged the state government to listen to their real experiences as it embarks on the first update of Victoria’s Autism Plan since 2009.

They have also called for organisations which use restrictive practices such as restrain and seclusion to be either change their policies, or have no future in the delivery of services for autistic people.

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There are supports that are unable to be provided under the NDIS, as they are the responsibility of other service systems. These systems and their responsibilities are outlined in the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Principles to Determine the Responsibility of the NDIS and other Service Systems. These principles were agreed to by respective jurisdictions and the Commonwealth. More information about the COAG principles that govern the NDIS can be found at: www.coag.gov.au.

An Australian chemical manufacturer has rejected calls for a ban or tightening of restrictions around the use of a highly toxic herbicide which poisoned a young man with autism on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Damien Terry, 21, accidently drank the commercial weedkiller — known as paraquat — from a soft drink bottle he found in a disabled toilet at the Mangrove Mountain sports complex in August.