Qld kids with autism will stay in class

Queensland's education minister has ruled out separating children with autism from the rest of their class, despite teachers complaining they disrupt their peers' learning.

Kate Jones and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Wednesday opened the new $2 million Autism Hub and Reading Centre - an Australian first - in the inner-Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba.

Ms Jones was asked whether the government would reconsider a policy to keep children with autism in the classroom, given the level of disruption teachers say they create.

Examine the teeth of a reticent patient in their car? Sure.

Use a heavy X-ray apron as a blanket to soothe a patient with autism? Happens all the time.  

"Jess is treated with dignity and respect, and why shouldn't she be?"

Sandra Younghusband

Andrew Whitehouse, University of Western Australia

One of the great and enduring mysteries of autism is what causes the brain to develop so differently. The behavioural differences of many individuals with autism are so apparent that it seems intuitive that the causes would also be obvious.

New South Wales education officials have suspended their investigation into claims a Hunter boy with autism was locked in a cupboard, pending a police probe.

Police confirmed they were investigating the alleged incident, after the ABC revealed claims made by the boy's father David Roy.

He alleged his son was locked in a cupboard while attending a special needs unit at a Hunter region school in 2013.

Labor state member for Charlestown, Jodie Harrison, asked the Government for an independent investigation.

Teams of reporters are cornering candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire, and pressing them to pay attention to issues that are often ignored.

Warning: the following story is likely to be very alarming for people.

Dressed in only a fleece jumper and track pants, the 11-year-old was placed on a garden chair in the cold and dark surrounds of an aluminium shed.

From where he sat in the single-digit temperatures with his arms bound to the chair with masking tape, the heater would have been in view.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Children born in Australia are being barred from accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme because their parents are from New Zealand.



Access is denied to children born in Australia to Kiwi parents who are not eligible for Australian citizenship, until they turn 10.



New Zealand politicians are protesting and disability advocates say it's a clear case of discrimination 



Here's Natasha Robinson:



(Sound of child playing in park)

Severely disabled children born in Australia are being denied access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) because their parents are New Zealand citizens.

Australian authorities have denied disabled Australia-born children the access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) because of their parents’ citizenship of New Zealand.