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Autism’s First Child

By bobb |

As new cases of autism have exploded in recent years—some form of the condition affects about one in 110 children today—efforts have multiplied to understand and accommodate the condition in childhood. But children with autism will become adults with autism, some 500,000 of them in this decade alone. What then? Meet Donald Gray Triplett, 77, of Forest, Mississippi. He was the first person ever diagnosed with autism.

Parents gave up autistic son

By bobb |

September 29, 2010 Carol Nader

AFTER five years of struggling with the relentless demands of a little boy with severe autism, Anna finally snapped. She drove him to a hospital and asked child protection workers to meet her there and take him.

They came and collected her boy. She returned home to a strange quiet in the house. She thought it would be for the best, that he'd be somewhere safe.

Principals slam resources for disabled

By bobb |

Jewel Topsfield; September 15, 2010

VICTORIAN principals are fed up with monster workloads and the state government's failure to properly support students with disabilities.

Less than three months from a state election, a survey shows that principals' assessments of both the state government and the Education Department are the most negative since 2005.

Unsustainable workloads dominate their concerns about their personal situations - principals work an average of 59 hours a week - while the lack of resources for disadvantaged students is their chief gripe about their schools.

Autistic kids 'caged' at school

By bobb |

STUDENTS with intellectual disabilities are being "caged" inside a fenced-off area at a Hobart school in a security measure parents and advocates have slammed as inhumane.

There have also been reports of another Tasmanian school making its special-needs students wear bright red hats so they can be easily counted within the school yard.

Action for Tasmanian Autistic Children secretary Roger Law said several parents have complained to him about their autistic children who attend Howrah Primary School being confined at recess and lunch each school day in a fenced area away from the other children.

The school has about 10 students with special needs, mainly autism.

Mums' disability parking victory

By bobb |

CARERS of children with autism and other intellectual disabilities have won the right to apply for disability parking permits thanks to a campaign by two northeast mums.

Helen Howson, of Modbury North, and Allison Dix, of Banksia Park who between them have three autistic boys successfully lobbied the Federal Government to have non-physical disabilities recognised in a new Australian Disability Parking Scheme.

Autistic student sues over test

By bobb |

Jewel Topsfield September 10, 2010

A 17-year-old student with autism is suing the Education Department for discrimination because his teacher refused to modify questions in his maths tests.

Lewis Walton, who received an A-plus in general maths and B-plus in maths methods in year 11, said his scores plunged in VCE specialist maths because his language difficulties meant he struggled to interpret open-ended questions that related to real-life situations.

A plea for some real political action for children with disabilities

By bobb |

So many issues haven’t made it on to the election radar. Indigenous health, rural and remote health, preventative health…and the list goes on.

While there has been some talk of improving services for children with a disability, Bob Buckley, Convenor of Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, would like to see far more action.

He writes:

“Bill Shorten and Tony Abbott raised services for children with a disability in the election campaign but their promises must be practical to win my vote.

MRI scans could diagnose autism

By bobb |

Ten minutes in a brain scanner could be all it takes to diagnose autism. So says Christine Ecker at the Institute of Psychiatry, UK, who has developed software that identifies the anatomical signatures of the condition.

Ecker's team carried out MRI scans on the brains of 20 adult males with autism, 20 with attention-deficit disorder and 20 healthy controls. They used a machine-learning tool called a support vector machine (SVM) – which analyses data and identifies patterns – to identify key differences between the groups, such as in the cortical folding and curvature of the brain.

Group calls for more help for autism

By Anonymous (not verified) |

Petrina Berry, August 15, 2010

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been criticised for not doing enough for children with autism during this election.

Autism Queensland says Labor's proposal to give teachers cash incentives for improved attendance and literacy and numeracy results will not change outcomes for students with autism and Asperger's syndrome.