Catherine Fielke describes trying to get funding for her five-year-old son through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as "a constant battle".

Key points:

• Mitchell Fielke's new NDIS plan has a third of the funding of the previous plan
• NT disability service providers have flagged concerns over plans being cut "significantly" without consultation
• The NDIA says it is committed to delivering a "consistent and quality" experience for all participants

"It's honestly like a full-time job," she said.

I'm not Sheldon Cooper.

I am, however, autistic, which means I'm constantly compared to him.

This is ironic because according to the producers of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon Cooper isn't actually autistic.

And yet my autism is constantly compared – and seemingly failing to live up – to this fictional character.

Zack Budryk

Anthony Hopkins, Wentworth Miller and others are showing us that autism is more varied than it once seemed to be.

In late July, actor Wentworth Miller of “Prison Break” and “Legends of Tomorrow” posted an image of a white square to Instagram, accompanied by the revelation that he had been formally diagnosed as autistic a year before.

By Eden Gillespie

A mother of five autistic children from regional NSW told The Feed she’s struggled immensely with getting them vaccinated. With the children still unvaccinated, and a severe asthmatic herself, she’s fearful about the state’s plans to open up in October.

NSW’s reopening has been described as the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ but as severe asthmatics and the parents of five children with autism, Casey* and her husband are terrified of where the eased restrictions could leave them.

When we don't understand autistic kids we create a toxic environment for them.

Posted August 31, 2021 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods

For most autistic children, school can be a toxic environment. Working on the advice of experts, school staff aim to have autistic children’s behavior conform to neurotypical expectations. The more a child is indistinguishable from mainstream peers, the more successful the school intervention is believed to be.

The Disability Royal Commission welcomes the Australian Government’s release of a new national roadmap that aims to improve the health of people with intellectual disability (Roadmap).

The Royal Commission strongly supports any initiative that addresses the serious inequities people with cognitive disability face in the current health system, and that attempts to develop a system in which they have access to high quality, timely and comprehensive care.