• Box built to 'calm' clients at Melbourne disability centre
• Disability minister horrified, families sickened by 'coffin-like' box
• Police launch probe into Aspect autism service amid abuse claims, box scandal

Independent assessors are to examine the use of restraint at Australia's leading autism service in the aftermath of a scandal involving a large box built to lock up people with disabilities.

The Andrews government will order the independent review at Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect), one of the country's largest disability organisations, to scrutinise staff's use of restraints on clients.

When the scattered afternoon sunlight seeped its way into a restaurant in the heart of Mackay, Nekea Blagoev's creativity, widely splashed across the walls, came to light. 

According to Nekea, the first milestone in her life did not involve walking or talking.

Instead, her earliest memories involve painting and drawing.

"Mum was always constantly painting the walls because I was always drawing on them," Nekea said.

"It was more of a hobby when I was a kid, and it just developed into something bigger than I could have ever dreamed of," she said.

Curtin University researchers are testing a system to enable employers to identify ways to best accommodate workers living with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Using the tool employers should be able to better recognise the strengths of employees with ASD, identifying potential difficulties in the workplace and providing strategies to modify the work environment.

A BOTANIC Ridge mum says two independent Christian schools in Casey tried to reject her daughter because she has autism.

Michelle Brown said she was shocked at the treatment of her five-year-old daughter and it was only after inquiries by the Berwick Leader that one of the schools agreed to accept her back next year.

Ms Brown said her daughter started at the first school in 2013, before her diagnosis, but was told last year she could no longer attend due to a lack of disability funding.

People with autism are more than twice as likely as their peers in the general population to die prematurely1. The finding, published 5 November in theBritish Journal of Psychiatry, adds to evidence suggesting that gaps in preventive care can cause serious health problems in people with autism.

NSW police are investigating allegations a child with autism was disciplined by being locked in a dark cupboard at a Newcastle school.

The boy's father, David Roy, raised the allegations of abuse against his seven-year-old son at Kotara South Public School.

Mr Roy said his son, who is now home-schooled, was traumatised.

"It's suggested that he was locked in a darkened cupboard with heavy objects around him," he said.

"He is indicating to us that he was grabbed and hit."

Mr Roy said his son shuts down when remembering the alleged abuse.

The third ASfAR Conference will be held at the University of Western Australia, Perth, with support from the Telethon Kids Institute on Thursday 8th & Friday 9th December, 2016. Autism CRC events would precede the Conference on Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 7th December 2016. Dates and information re Conference Registration will be put up on the website shortly. Registration is free but you must be a member of ASfAR to attend. If you are not currently a member, please submit a membership application form.

An inquiry into services for people with autism spectrum disorder is calling for submissions from the public, and Bendigo autism advocate Rebecca Kelly has outlined her concerns.

Our kids grow up into adults and we're going to really need to get that support happening.

Rebecca Kelly, autism advocate

Ms Kelly's eight-year-old daughter was diagnosed with autism four years ago and her son, who is now six, was diagnosed a year later.

Dozens of New South Wales teachers have been investigated for alleged assaults against students with autism, including children being sat on and placed in headlocks, Education Department data shows.

The ABC has obtained figures of alleged child protection incidents involving students with autism spectrum disorder at NSW public schools.

Of the 37 alleged incidents, management action was taken in eight cases, after the conduct was shown to have occurred.

Matthew Wearing had nightmares about going to school.

He remembers being severely bullied, and being dismissed and laughed at, as though he were a "second class student".

Eventually, at 15, he decided that he wouldn't go back. 

He missed nearly three months of year nine. 

"I did develop a fear," he says. "A fear of not being accepted. I felt it all day and all night."