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NDIS failing mental health patients and providers

By bobb |

An ACT study of mental health care provider organisations suggests the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is failing to achieve some of its core aims for persons with a lived experience of severe mental illness.

In a survey reporting on the transition to the NDIS, researchers from The Australian National University's Centre for Mental Health Research found the transition to individualised funding brought significant distress and uncertainty for care provider organisations in the mental health sector.

My daughter's autism diagnosis at 23 shows how easily girls can mask the warning signs

By bobb |

My daughter came into the world in dramatic fashion in November 1994.

Key points:

  • Tracey Stewart had no idea her daughter was autistic
  • She was not diagnosed until the age of 23
  • Doctors say girls mask symptoms, making diagnosis harder

I had been hospitalised with pre-eclampsia and she was delivered via an unplanned caesarean at very short notice.

Teen with autism overcomes job hurdles by cornering market in cleaning smelly bins

By bobb |

Jessica Hinchliffe

Clay Lewis spent two years trying to find part-time work before he decided to start his own business, one that's now so successful he's had to hire extra staff.

"I was trying to get a job at a fast food restaurant but I wasn't successful," the 16-year-old with autism said.

So after some local market research and number crunching, Clay opened a bin-cleaning business with his mother Laura's help.

'Massive pressure': special needs classes clustered in Sydney's west

By bobb |

Jordan Baker & Nigel Gladstone

Special needs classes in public schools are heavily concentrated in the most disadvantaged parts of Sydney, with 92 in the Blacktown local government area alone but none in Hunters Hill, Lane Cove or Mosman.

In the Liverpool and Campbelltown council areas there is an average of just over one class for students with disabilities per school, an analysis of NSW Department of Education figures by the Herald shows.