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.

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) sent yet another letter to Australia's latest Attorney-General. The letter raises concerns about proposed changes to disability discrimination law, and the lack of acknowledgement or response to concerns raised with previous Attorneys General.

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.

UnitingCare's Social Justice Unit released a report/policy paper Addressing high rates of school suspension. It says ...

The right to education is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This includes taking measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and to reduce school drop-out rates.

A4's Management Group endorsed the submission that Bob Buckley sent (originally as a personal submission) to the Senate Inquiry into the draft Act.

The draft legislation aims to consolidate a number of existing acts.