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NSW flags overhaul in disability funding to cut 'diagnosis shopping'

By bobb |

Caitlin Fitzsimmons

 The NSW government has committed to trial giving schools disability funding on the basis of student need to reduce the prevalence of "diagnosis shopping".

The Sun-Herald reported in August that schools were pushing parents to obtain a diagnosis for their child that qualifies the school for extra funding to support the student with learning and behaviour.

Off a cliff, without a parachute: Parents left in the cold when it comes to kids with autism

By bobb |

First-line health professionals must vastly improve their communication and engagement with parents if they are to help address the growing prevalence of autism among children, say researchers from the University of South Australia.

Undertaking a meta-synthesis of 22 international studies, researchers consolidated the voices of 1178 parents advocating for their children with autism, finding that parents feel ignored and dismissed by medical practitioners as they navigate initial concerns for their child, further investigations, and finally, a formal diagnosis of autism.

Researchers say that medical practitioners need to adopt a family-focused approach to ensure that parents’ concerns, perspectives and observations are taken seriously so that their child has appropriate and timely access to early intervention services.

My Daughter and I Were Diagnosed With Autism on the Same Day

By bobb |

Autistic moms can face judgment while struggling with their own diagnosis and advocating for their children.

By Jen Malia

“You convinced yourself that you and our daughter have autism,” my husband yelled. “You did all this research and told the doctor what he needed to hear to diagnose you!”

“No, it wasn’t like that,” I said. “You know about all the testing we went through.”

“I can’t believe you brought her into this,” he said. “You’re like those mothers who make up medical problems about their kids. Why can’t you just let her be a kid?”

Hunter's first autism-specific high school offers hope to students and their families

By bobb |

Penelope Green

LARA Cheney was studying early childhood in the late '90s in Newcastle when one of her casual jobs made an impact.

"I was working at Newcastle Temporary Care, at a respite home, supporting children attend social clubs and in their homes, and for a while I had a boy who was about seven stay at my house on a Tuesday night," she recalls.

500 children forfeited to state in NDIS standoff

By bobb |

New figures reveal the human toll of a five-year NDIS funding fight, with hundreds of families pushed to relinquish their children into state care.

By Rick Morton.

For the past five years, the National Disability Insurance Agency has squabbled with state governments over who pays to support children with a profound disability. In that time, hundreds of families have been pushed to the brink. The care they were promised never came.

Ask An Expert: The Balancing Act of Supported Decision Making

By bobb |

Lee Archer

What’s the deal with decision making?

Such a great question! The right to make your own decisions. It doesn’t get more fundamental than that when considering what makes us human. Questioning a person’s capacity to make decisions is one of the gravest insults one can make, yet in disability it can be thought of like an item on a grocery list. The assumption that people with disability have the right to make their own decisions, and should be given every support to do so, is a transgressive idea in our society. And as with any rights based social change, implementation can get a little tricky.

Talking About Autism

By bobb |

Why language matters.

Erin Bulluss, Ph.D., and Abby Witts

Language is a powerful tool; it can be used to describe the plain, the profound, and the profane. With language, we make choices not only about what we say, but how we say it. Surely we can all recall a time when we were hurt or buoyed by something said to or about us, not because of the statement itself but, rather, how it was framed.

UN Report on Australia and the CPRD omits autism

By convenor |

The UN Committee reviewing Australia's implementation and compliance of the CRPD published its Concluding Observations - see https://www.afdo.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/UN-Outcomes-Report-on-Australia.pdf

Their reports fails to mention autistic Australians. Autistic Australians are the biggest distinct primary disability type in the NDIS and the NDIS is the dominant mechanism for tackling CRPD issues.