BRUCE MCDOUGALL The Daily Telegraph November 05, 2012

Katrece Burns with her eight-year-old son Ethen. She has lost count of the times Ethen has been suspended from school. Picture: Cameron Richardson Source: The Daily Telegraph

Lauren Murada

Jokes about people with disabilities are no laughing matter for Marrickville resident James Eggleton.

Australia has its racial, homosexual and religious hate-crime laws, but Mr Eggleton can't understand why there are non for the disabled.

Mr Eggleton, who has a disabled family member, says he's sick of seeing vilification of the disabled in the community.

HUNDREDS of disabled Victorians have been assaulted and left languishing in hospitals, with many others suffering unexplained injuries that go unreported.

In one case, a disabled woman who could not speak spent almost three days with broken legs before she received appropriate treatment.

A FURIOUS father says his disabled daughter, 11, was tied up on a school bus, and is considering legal action.

Michael says Caitlyn was restrained by staff trying to stop unruly behaviour, including scratching at seats.

He said his daughter had told him force was used to bind her wrists with rope.

The principal of the Ballarat Specialist School said he believed shoelaces were used by bus staff to secure Caitlyn to her seat.

Police and the Education Department are investigating an August 29 incident.

A police spokesman said a Ballarat man was interviewed yesterday.

Australians with a disability and single parents are twice as likely to experience legal problems, according to a landmark national study.

The LAW Survey (Legal Australia-Wide Survey) published by the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW is described the largest ever survey of legal need conducted anywhere in the world.

It shows that legal problems are widespread and that many disadvantaged people are particularly vulnerable to multiple and substantial legal problems.

What is the Disability Clothesline?

We started this project because people with disability and their families did not h
ave a voice.

When we tell our stories about abuse, neglect and violence, people do not always listen.

But if lots of us tell our stories, people will listen.

We want to tell our stories to the Australian community.

We are going to do this by using teeshirts to share our stories.

This will spread the message we want people to hear.

'Disability violence and abuse is not okay.'

You can help us by telling your story.

A4's Convenor received the following message from the Government on 25/9/2012 ...

Dear Friend

We believe that an independent and innovative Not-For-Profit sector is essential to building a fair community.

The past few weeks in Queensland have reminded us how Liberal governments treat community organisations.

Premier Newman has introduced gag clauses into community services contracts which prevent funded organisations from advocating for the most vulnerable in our community. The Howard Government gagged the community sector too.

Kerrie Curtis with son Harry and daughter Isabelle.
Photo: Simon Schluter

Jewel Topsfield Education Editor for The Age, 24 September 2012

AS THE mother of three children on the autism spectrum, Kerrie Curtis is a veteran of battles with the Victorian education system.

Her latest fight is to get special VCE exam provisions for her oldest son Liam, who has Asperger's, an anxiety disorder and a learning difficulty. Ms Curtis' frustration is not with his school, RMIT, which she says has been absolutely superb.

However she says the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has been ''extraordinarily inflexible''. Just weeks away from VCE exams she is still trying to apply for him to use a laptop in exams.

Meanwhile, she is fighting to get her son Harry's primary school to pay for the speech therapy and assistance with emotional regulation and social skills that medical experts say he needs.