By Stephanie Gotlib

The PM has delivered on Gonski's recommendations for a funding boost to students with disabilities. Money is necessary, but will only go so far - attitudes must change too, writes Stephanie Gotlib

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has called for early intervention for children with learning difficulties to be part of the national disability insurance scheme.

Mr Abbott says the federal opposition supports DisabilityCare Australia in principle, but wants more detail on the government's proposal.

Visiting an autistic childcare centre in Melbourne on Tuesday, Mr Abbott said early intervention education should be included in the scheme.

"I think all of us want to see centres like this supported through the national disability insurance scheme," he told reporters.

Hello there, I am looking to speak with students in the Albury-Wodonga region who would be in their final year of secondary education and looking to transition to employment. I am coordinating a pilot whereby a group of students from the region with ASD are actively engaged in paid employment whilst completing their final year of school.

To be eligible, students must:

ASHLEY HALL: While the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or DisabilityCare, now looks set to become a reality, New Zealanders in Australia claim it discriminates against them.



Australian residents from across the ditch have a unique migration status which requires them to pay taxes, including the increased Medicare levy, which will be used to fund the insurance scheme.



But they won't be eligible for benefits under the scheme.



Simon Lauder reports.

ONE grey, rainy London day, my 11-year-old son arrived home from school with his shirt torn and hair matted. There was a sign sticky-taped to his back. It read: "Kick me, I'm a retard." I ripped it off in fury as a tidal wave of frustration and pity surged through me. "The other kids called me a moron," he whispered, his wide blue eyes filling with tears. "What does that mean? Am I a moron, Mum?"

Trying to protect a child with special needs from being bullied is like trying to stop ice melting in the desert. There were calls to the school, meetings, promises of closer scrutiny in the playground. But basically, when it comes to defeating bullying -- particularly when your child is an obvious target -- a parent might as well be standing up to Voldemort with a butter knife.

Kathryn Wick

Doing well: Juliet Callow, 7, has Asperger's and has benefited from early intervention. Photo: Anthony Johnson

Australia's foremost authority on Asperger's syndrome, Tony Attwood, has warned of dire consequences if governments use the new diagnostic criteria for autism as a means to cut funding for children at the mild end of the spectrum.

By Maia Szalavitz, Jan. 22, 2013

There is more evidence that a minority of autistic children may eventually overcome their developmental issues, but experts caution that such recovery is rare.