Amid a flurry of activity, AMAZE managed to get some media cover of the arrival of its new CEO, Ms Fiona Sharkie.

Total cost of treatment, care and support is more then heart disease, cancer and strokes combined

• London School of Economics and Political Science revealed high costs
• An estimated 600,000 children and adults in the UK are said to be affected
• Quarter of sufferers unable to talk, and 85 per cent do not work full time

By JENNY HOPE

When a family friend’s son was diagnosed with autism Professor Andrew Whitehouse offered them respite but it left him a changed man. 

“It changed my life,” he says. “I saw the family’s realisation that their child was developing differently to other kids, the difficulty they had in obtaining a diagnosis, their endless fight to receive the proper services, and the enduring love they had for their child.”

YASMINE PHILLIPS Education Reporter PerthNow July 06, 2014

Silvana Gaglia with her son Julian, 17, at Autism WA. She is pushing for an autism-specific school in WA.

Silvana Gaglia with her son Julian, 17, at Autism WA. She is pushing for an autism-specific school in WA.

TEACHERS are struggling to care for the skyrocketing number of students with autism while also looking after “30 other eager minds” in their classrooms.

The number of students attending public schools that are being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder has doubled in the past five years to more than 3200 — up from 1600 in 2009.

Yet, WA is the only major state without an autism-specific school.

The Education Department insists mainstream schools are the “best way for students with autism to reach their potential”.

But teachers on the frontline told The Sunday Times this week that schools are not adequately equipped to deal with autistic students, of whom “no two are alike”.

Telethon Kids Institute head of autism research Andrew Whitehouse said WA was the only major state in Australia not to have an autism-specific school.

July 1, 2014 Dan Harrison

The minister responsible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme has urged families with concerns about how the scheme is operating to make their views known.

The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place among groups of young people can make the social world a very daunting place for children with autism. Being at odds with their peer group can lead to social isolation, rejection, and a lack of the supportive friendships that can protect against bullying.

Chris Taylor / Reuters June 24, 2014

A new study pegs the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism at $1.4 million. For parents, there are no easy solutions.

When Linda Mercier’s son Sam was around two years old, she knew something wasn’t right.

That was the beginning of a very long road, one that has involved significant time, effort — and money, plenty of it. Hundreds of thousands of dollars so far, Mercier estimates, on tutors, therapists and lost wages.

Families of children with autism say they have been short changed under the National Disability Insurance Scheme, with early intervention therapy provisions falling far below international best practice.

Participants in launch sites have been told they will received funding for less than six hours of therapy a week, less than a third of the recommended 20 hours.

Monika Dobek has been spending about $35,000 a year on 20 hours a week of evidence-based applied behaviour analysis therapy for her six-year-old daughter, Olivia, who was diagnosed with autism two years ago.

She was delighted when she was told Olivia would be eligible for funding under the NDIS in April but stunned to discover the money would only cover six hours of therapy a week.

Rick Morton, Social Affairs Reporter, The Australian, June 20, 2014

AUSTRALIA’S only politician who uses a wheelchair has written to the chairman of the national disability insurance scheme urging the board to listen more carefully to people who have a “lived experience” of disability.

South Australian Legislative Council member Kelly Vincent, who heads the Dignity for Disability Party, wrote to Bruce Bonyhady last week, highlighting the lack of people with disability involved in national forums relating to the landmark NDIS.