WA study finds Autism sets back families $35,000 per year

By bobb |
dollar sign going down a plug holeBy Rebecca Trigger

Families of children with autism are facing tens of thousands of dollars in costs and lost income, a Western Australian researcher has found.

The study — thought to be the first of its kind in WA — set out to measure whether a delayed diagnosis increased long-term costs for families.

But the paper, published in this month's edition of journal PLOS ONE, also established the median cost of a child being diagnosed with autism as $34,900 per annum.

Curtin professor and joint author Torbjorn Falkmer said the findings, drawn from the responses of 317 Western Australian families, had huge implications for parents.

"The majority of that cost, 90 per cent of it ... is because of the lack of the chance to have employment because parents have to stay home and take care of the children with autism, because they don't get the support they need," Dr Falkmer said.

"I think the system we have right now is showing us that parents are being forced to stay home, because they can't take a job because someone's got to take care of the kids.

Strapped in and locked up: Shocking photos reveal how autistic children are treated in Australian schools

By bobb |
  • Tracey Hayes has photos of her twin boys strapped to chairs at Monash Special Developmental School in Melbourne
  • Other parents of autistic children have also made complaints about how their children have been treated in Victorian schools
  • Rebecca Cobb claims she was forced to pull her autistic son Tristan out of Marnebek school, in Cranbourne, because he was repeatedly locked in a small dark room

ABC RN Life Matters: Re-defining autism

By bobb |

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a condition that is currently diagnosed in one in 100 Australians.

But it wasn’t always called autism, it used to be called “childhood schizophrenia”.

And while it’s true that language has changed, what about perceptions?

Listeners share their experiences of having a child in their family with autism.

How have things changed through the generations?

see http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/re-defining-au…

Submission to Review of Australia's Welfare

By bobb |

front coverA4 submitted the report below to the Australian Government's Review of Australia’s Welfare System.

A4's report highlights that ... 

  • people with autism want to work and are capable of working. The problem is that employers, including governments in Australia, simply do not employ people with autism,
  • describing people with disability as "leaners", or as "rorters, bludgers, slackers, etc." does not improve employment outcomes,
  • growth in Disability Support Pensions is not even as big as growth in autism diagnoses ... so there is no real welfare crisis, but growth in the number of people diagnosed with autism deserves much more attention, and
  • Australia's welfare compared to GDP is below average for the OECD so Australia's welfare system is sustainable at present and is not heading towards being unsustainable, as the current Government claims.

Autism rates steady for the past 20 years

By bobb |

Contrary to reports that the rates of autism spectrum disorder are on the rise, researchers at the University of Queensland found no evidence of an increase of the condition in the past 20 years.

Transcript

Norman Swan: Autism Spectrum Disorder describes children and adults who have a range of difficulties with communicating, socialising and can also have quite obsessional interests and repetitive behaviours.

Disabled call in lawyers to access NDIS

By bobb |
Lawyers called in over NDIS access

Dale Mulligan of Newcastle, denied $1100 a year to pay for lawnmowing, is taking the NDIS to the Federal Court. Picture: Jon Reid Source: Supplied

AUSTRALIANS with disabilities have begun suing the government to break into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, forcing courts and tribunals to navigate the scheme’s early flaws.

Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearings have so far revealed confusion about the NDIS legislation and heard participants were given incorrect information about their entitlements.

One man with emphysema and diabetes was incorrectly told the NDIS would provide an oxygen concentrator and insulin pump, while another was given the wrong information about his avenues for appeal.

UQ study: autism rates unchanged in 20 years

By bobb |

MARK COLVIN: Many aspects of what's now called autism spectrum disorder remain mysterious, but a new study from the University of Queensland says the number of people with the disorder is neither rising nor falling.

The university team crunched the numbers on a wide range of research data from 1990 to 2010. They say that around the world one person in 132 has some level of autism spectrum disorder. They say their analysis of the figures shows that that hasn't changed since 1990.

Autism experts say current testing failing to detect condition in females, call for changes to testing

By bobb |

Autism experts are calling for changes in diagnostic testing, saying the current approach is failing to identify the true number of females with the disorder.

They say a massive imbalance in the number of autism diagnoses between the sexes could be attributed to more subtle symptoms in females that are either dismissed by clinicians, or undetected by current testing, which focuses on signs associated with male behaviour.

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