ASHLEY HALL: While the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or DisabilityCare, now looks set to become a reality, New Zealanders in Australia claim it discriminates against them.



Australian residents from across the ditch have a unique migration status which requires them to pay taxes, including the increased Medicare levy, which will be used to fund the insurance scheme.



But they won't be eligible for benefits under the scheme.



Simon Lauder reports.

ONE grey, rainy London day, my 11-year-old son arrived home from school with his shirt torn and hair matted. There was a sign sticky-taped to his back. It read: "Kick me, I'm a retard." I ripped it off in fury as a tidal wave of frustration and pity surged through me. "The other kids called me a moron," he whispered, his wide blue eyes filling with tears. "What does that mean? Am I a moron, Mum?"

Trying to protect a child with special needs from being bullied is like trying to stop ice melting in the desert. There were calls to the school, meetings, promises of closer scrutiny in the playground. But basically, when it comes to defeating bullying -- particularly when your child is an obvious target -- a parent might as well be standing up to Voldemort with a butter knife.

Kathryn Wick

Doing well: Juliet Callow, 7, has Asperger's and has benefited from early intervention. Photo: Anthony Johnson

Australia's foremost authority on Asperger's syndrome, Tony Attwood, has warned of dire consequences if governments use the new diagnostic criteria for autism as a means to cut funding for children at the mild end of the spectrum.

By Maia Szalavitz, Jan. 22, 2013

There is more evidence that a minority of autistic children may eventually overcome their developmental issues, but experts caution that such recovery is rare.

by: BRUCE MCDOUGALL
From: The Daily Telegraph
December 24, 2012 12:00AM

SCHOOL teachers are training in martial arts to control disabled children who become violent under a raft of controversial behaviour management techniques slammed by disability groups as "abuse and neglect".

Children with disabilities are also being locked in small rooms or in "fenced areas" as punishment for bad behaviour at school while others are banned from classes unless they have taken "psychotropic medication", researchers claim.

Several media outlets report the publication of research that examines a number of children who "recovered" from autism. The research is published at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.12037/pdf

The researchers say that the data clearly support the existence of a cohort who had clear autism at a young age and no longer demonstrated any significant autistic impairments.

UN text on Addressing Socioeconomic Dimensions of Autism, ...

... the Assembly addressed the socio-economic needs related to autism and developmental disorders by adopting a relevant resolution without a vote. By the text, the Assembly called on all States to enable persons with autism, developmental disorders and associated disabilities to learn life and social development skills to facilitate their full and equal participation in education and as members of the community.