Lee-Maree Gallo
December 21, 2010

One of Perth's most prestigious private girls' school has admitted discriminating against an autistic girl after an emotional two-year legal battle.

Methodist Ladies College was forced to admit it failed to provide appropriate educational assistance to the girl after a settlement reached in the Federal Magistrate's Court.

Mandy and Andrew Masons' six-year-old daughter was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two.

16th Nov 2010

Fundamental changes are taking place in the area of mental health. Amanda Sheppeard looks at the top five controversies identified by leaders in the field. Amanda Sheppeard all articles by this author

THE EXPERTS

Professor Ian Hickie

Executive director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute, professor of psychiatry at the University of Sydney, and an NHMRC Australian Medical Research Fellow.

Professor Gordon Parker

Executive director of the Black Dog Institute, research director of the Mood Disorders Unit, and Scientia Professor at the University of NSW.

BY ALISON BRANLEY

Forget bus stop seats, a Raymond Terrace man is selling advertising space on his skin in an effort to raise $1 million.

Tim Christian, 26, said every square centimetre of his body was up for grabs by businesses looking to get their brand permanently tattooed on his walking billboard.

The father-of-three is doing it to raise money to improve Hunter autism services after struggling to get help for his four-year-old son, Connor.

Jan McLucas, Jenny Macklin posted Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Today marks the two year anniversary of the Australian Government’s $190 million Helping Children with Autism package, an initiative aimed at providing early intervention services to children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

In the two years since its introduction, more than 10,000 Australian children aged up to six years old have accessed more than 220,000 early intervention services through the Government’s autism package.

BY LORETTA JOHNSTON, 27 Oct, 2010

AN autistic teenager who went missing from Clifton Beach in March 2008 grew up near a beach and loved the water, the Hobart Coroners Court has heard.

Jackson Kelty, 15, and his state carer Brendan Dermody went missing from the popular surf beach near Hobart on March 15, 2008, where it is presumed they drowned.

Jackson's mother, Peta Kelty, said that her son loved to paddle in shallow water although he could not swim.

"The minute he hit the sand he'd kick his shoes off and run into the water," she said.

A test that’s correct nine times out of ten is 90 per cent accurate, right? Sometimes not, says Professor Ian Stewart.

By Ian Stewart, Published: 14 Oct 2010

BY PHILLIP THOMSON 15 Oct, 2010

An inquest into the death of a profoundly autistic Canberra teenager at Canberra Hospital in 2008 has heard that a person may have committed an indictable offence that led to the tragedy.

NSW Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon yesterday suspended the inquest, which began at Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday, to allow the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate the person in question.

Jack Sullivan, 18, died on February 18, 2008, at Canberra Hospital.