By Lisa Martin, From: AAP, March 11, 2010 6:01PM

• Autistic children kept in fenced area
• Treatment inhumane, says NSW Opposition
• Matter of safety, says Education Department

A SYDNEY primary school that pens children with autism in a fenced area at lunchtimes should be investigated for human rights violations, the New South Wales Opposition says.

Parents with children at Seven Hills West Public School are angry that pupils with special needs are placed inside a fenced enclosure that has one tree, a bench and a dirt floor.

By Bruce McDougall Education Reporte, The Daily Telegraph, January 08, 2010 12:00AM

GROWING numbers of students suspended for violence, aggressive behaviour or repeated disobedience have a serious mental disability such as autism.

Families with severely disabled children said they had become the victims of an under-funded school system incapable of adequately providing for special needs.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/lessons-from-the-death-of-a-little-girl-20091006-gl90.html

The Sydney Morning Herald

7 October 2009

Lessons from the death of a little girl

By Kathryn Wicks

Anna Patty Education Editor, SMH August 15, 2009

SCHOOL funding for students with special needs will be capped and no longer distributed according to the number of individual students, under NSW Department of Education proposals.

Principals and teachers are concerned that funding for students with autism and mental health disorders will be capped for the next three years at 2009 levels. The State Government plans to allocate grants based on the prevalence of disorders in the wider community.

Join Roy & HG as they host a night full of laughs as some of Australia's best loved comedians give something back and support Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) for a fun-packed comedy show. Comedians from around Australia will come together to help raise money to provide more services for people with autism and their families.

Note: for an update, see the comment below ...

Article from: (see http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,25419295-5001021,00.html)

By Jennifer Sexton

May 03, 2009 12:00am

• Anna Patty Education Editor
• April 29, 2009

ELIZABETH GAWTHORNE has spent 11 years working with children at Marrickville High School yet is still classed as a temporary employee.

As a school learning support officer, she works alongside classroom teachers, helping children with special needs.

While satisfying, the job provides no security from one year to the next. Further training opportunities are limited.

"I have 11 years of experience and can be told I'm not wanted next year," she said.

April 15, 2009

Ethan Johnson ... cycled from Brisbane to Sydney over two weeks.

A 15-year-old Brisbane boy with Asperger's syndrome who disappeared for two weeks and rode his bike more than 950 kilometres to Sydney did it to prove to "bullies'' he wasn't an idiot, his mother says.

During his six-day, dawn-to-dusk haul down the east coast, Ethan Johnson slept at truck stops, under bridges and ate at fast-food restaurants.