Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia

A Select Committee of the South Australian parliament produced this report.

This report has a lot to say about autistic students (students with autism, students with ASD, students on the autism spectrum). It includes a lot of recommendations. A couple of the recommendations are specific to how autistic students are educated.

The Hon Jane Prentice MP, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services has announced a new way to help those with autism access the services they need.

Mrs Prentice said collaboration between the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) and National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will help the autism community access more support.

AFDO Budget Media Release

 The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) welcomes the Turnbull Government's commitment in tonight's budget to fully fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

"The Government's announcement tonight gives peace of mind to people with disability that funding for the scheme is secure and it will continue to be rolled out as planned," said AFDO CEO, Mr Ross Joyce.

A month ago, a NDIS planner in the ACT told a mother that the NDIA had "two publically available reports that the NDIS is using to avoid funding ABA therapies in kids aged 5 and above i.e. school-aged kids".  The NDIS planner told the mother:

1. once kids reach school, the schools are meant to fund appropriate behavioural management plans (also occupational and speech therapy),
2. as kids after school are too tired to have therapy, then these unnamed studies state that ABA therapy is no longer effective, and
3. the NDIS would not fund ABA for kids at school. 

One thing that is important to know about autism up front: There is no cure for autism. So, products or treatments claiming to “cure” autism do not work as claimed. The same is true of many products claiming to “treat” autism or autism-related symptoms. Some may carry significant health risks.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays an important role in warning these companies against making improper claims about their products’ intended use as a treatment or cure for autism or autism-related symptoms.

Speaking Out for Autism Spectrum Disorder (SOfASD), a local ASD advocacy group in the ACT, wrote to the ACT Minister for Education raising concerns about the lack if discernible progress with getting registered/certified behavioural service and support for autistic students in ACT schools. SOfASD asked for a meeting but the Minister's response ignored their request.

PETER MICKELBUROUGH

A DISABLED boy who claims he was assaulted, locked in a “time-out” room and physically restrained during six years at various state schools has won a “substantial” compensation payout from the government.

But its size will remain hidden from the public, despite a Federal Court judge’s expression of “disquiet” over this policy of secrecy by Victoria’s Department of Education.

Bob Buckley

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new information about autistic people in Australia. The information comes from data collect for the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) in 2015.

The ABS reports

Prof Baron-Cohen spoke out about his fears in a speech while in New York

A Cambridge professor fears the basic human rights of autistic people are not being met.

In a speech marking Autism Awareness Week, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, told the United Nations in New York today, that even with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities having been adopted in 2006, people with autism still do not enjoy human rights to the same extent as everyone else.

A4 made a submission to the Productivity Commission study of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Costs. 

The submission's conclusion says:

Previously, we said that the NDIS has substantial potential to improve the lives of autistic people. They may have access to more services and supports. They have more choice and control of the services and supports they access.