Calla Wahlquist

Legal Aid Victoria finds residential care providers call police to deal with behavioural issues of children in their care

Children in group homes in Victoria are being charged with criminal damage and detained in custody for incidents as minor as breaking coffee cups and throwing a pen at an air-conditioning unit, a new report has found.

AAP

It would be wrong to infer that children with less severe symptoms do not have autism, says Professor Andrew Whitehouse from the Telethon Kids Institute.

The so-called 'autism epidemic' is due to an increase in the diagnosis of children with less severe behavioural symptoms, not because there are more children being born with the disorder, a new Australian study shows.

There has been a 20-fold increase over the past 30 years in the prevalence of autism, which is now thought to affect at least one per cent of the Australian population.

Sheshtyn Paola

WA researchers have shown the so-called “autism epidemic” is due to an increase in diagnosis – not vaccines

Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Head of Autism Research at the Telethon Kids Institute and lead author of the landmark Australian study, says that while the prevalence of autism has increased 20-fold over the past 30 years, the reason behind this has remained a mystery.

Andrew Taylor

The 20-fold increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism in the past 30 years is due to clinicians diagnosing less severe autism in children, a study has found.

And the so-called "epidemic" is putting pressure on the public purse, potentially risking the sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

One of the biggest policy reforms in generations is about to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians.

An Illawarra FaCS worker accused of beating a mute autistic boy was brought undone when the child's parents grew suspicious and sent him to respite care with a tape recorder concealed in his bag, a court has heard.

Police will allege disability support worker Lennard Michael Downes, 35, can be heard verbally and physically abusing the boy on the recording, which was taken over a two day period at a government-run care centre in November last year.

Autistic defendants and prisoners are suffering at the hands of an out-of-date criminal justice system

Clare Allely, Antonia Wood 

Prison is not an easy ride – not least for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

On 21^st December 2016, Bob Buckley, A4 Convenor has a video meeting with several NDIS staff to discuss A4's concerns over the NDIA's Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Approach. The NDIA then sent the email and letter (download below) to follow up.

email

Good afternoon

Please find attached response as follow up after our video conference on 21 December.

Included are a Signed PDF and a Word document for accessibility.

Regards

The Hon Christian Porter MP

Minister for Social Services

Parliament House

CANBERRA ACT 2600

Dear The Hon. C. Porter MP

Thank you for promoting a meeting of Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (known as A4) with the Hon. J Prentice MP, Assistant Minister for Disability, on 25th November 2016. I am optimistic that further discussion will lead to benefits for autistic people and people living with autism/ASD around the country.