AAP

It would be wrong to infer that children with less severe symptoms do not have autism, says Professor Andrew Whitehouse from the Telethon Kids Institute.

The so-called 'autism epidemic' is due to an increase in the diagnosis of children with less severe behavioural symptoms, not because there are more children being born with the disorder, a new Australian study shows.

There has been a 20-fold increase over the past 30 years in the prevalence of autism, which is now thought to affect at least one per cent of the Australian population.

Sheshtyn Paola

WA researchers have shown the so-called “autism epidemic” is due to an increase in diagnosis – not vaccines

Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Head of Autism Research at the Telethon Kids Institute and lead author of the landmark Australian study, says that while the prevalence of autism has increased 20-fold over the past 30 years, the reason behind this has remained a mystery.

Andrew Taylor

The 20-fold increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism in the past 30 years is due to clinicians diagnosing less severe autism in children, a study has found.

And the so-called "epidemic" is putting pressure on the public purse, potentially risking the sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

One of the biggest policy reforms in generations is about to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians.

An Illawarra FaCS worker accused of beating a mute autistic boy was brought undone when the child's parents grew suspicious and sent him to respite care with a tape recorder concealed in his bag, a court has heard.

Police will allege disability support worker Lennard Michael Downes, 35, can be heard verbally and physically abusing the boy on the recording, which was taken over a two day period at a government-run care centre in November last year.

Autistic defendants and prisoners are suffering at the hands of an out-of-date criminal justice system

Clare Allely, Antonia Wood 

Prison is not an easy ride – not least for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

NICHOLETTE ZELIADT 

About one in four children with autism hit, scratch or otherwise hurt themselves, suggests an analysis of school and medical records for more than 8,000 children in the United States. Children who engage in self-injury tend to have mood and behavioral challenges, as well as cognitive impairment.

Peter Barrett

Any mother of a pre-school age child knows that life can be intense. There's the bathing, feeding, toiletting, playing, comforting, trips to emergency, more comforting – not to mention the constant funk of niggling sleep deprivation. In most families, though, this phase of life eventually passes.

But for mothers who care for children with a disability, the job is unrelenting.  In Australia, one in 12 children have a disability and in 95 per cent of cases, the mother is the primary carer.

Christopher Knaus

Autism Awareness Australia head says her son almost paid $3,000 to a debt recovery firm when he did not owe Centrelink anything. 

A call from a private debt collector was the first 21-year-old Jack Rogerson learned of his $3,000 debt to Centrelink.

 ANN GRISWOLD

Most children who lose their autism diagnosis develop related psychiatric conditions, according to a new study¹. The findings suggest that doctors should continue to monitor children once diagnosed with autism.