People with autism dying at twice rate of general population: new study

By bobb |

Kate Aubusson

People with autism spectrum disorder are dying at twice the rate of the general population, a landmark Australian study published on Tuesday has found.

The biggest cause of death is injury or poisoning from suicide, self-harm or accident, the University of NSW analysis involving the records of almost 36,000 people with the disorder in NSW showed.

Autism support groups warn of looming national high school crisis

By bobb |

Autism support groups have warned of an impending national crisis, as growing numbers of children diagnosed with autism reach high school age, with few options for specialised education and public schools with a dramatic shortage of trained staff.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Finding the right school for a child with autism can be difficult and frustrating for parents, and it's even harder when students reach high school.

Some families resort to home-schooling or teenagers may drop out altogether.

Coalition government must commit to a royal commission into violence & abuse of people with disability

By convenor |

Media release

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) commends the Senate for approving the motion last Thursday, from Green’s Senator Jordon Steele-John, to establish a Royal Commission (RC) into violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect of people with disability in institutional and wider community settings across Australia.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten personally pledged his and the ALP’s commitment to a Royal Commission back in 2017, which we also commend. This has been followed up with an election promise of $26 million to get the Commission going; the ALP also supported the recent Senate motion along with others from the crossbench.

Senate motion: National Disability Strategy

By bobb |

2019-02-14

Senator Griff to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

  1. notes that:

    1. in 2015, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 164,000 Australians with an autism diagnosis and a prevalence rate of 2.8% for those aged between 5-14 years (around 81,000 children), though this does not reflect the large numbers of autistic adults who remain undiagnosed,

letter: NDIS support is inadequate for autistic participants

By convenor |

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4) wrote to Minister Fletcher and NDIS officials saying A4 is concerned that NDIS support for autistic participants is often inadequate.

Table E.10 in the NDIS Y6Q1 Quarterly Report shows again that close to 29% of NDIS participants are autistic. Figure E-5 from the report and a similar figure from The Australian (see both figures below) indicate to us that for autistic participants:

Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result puts autism front and centre

By bobb |

Katie Sutherland, Western Sydney University

Review: The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion

Genetics Professor Don Tillman is having flashbacks. He’s remembering the time he spent in the principal’s office as a kid in Shepparton, Victoria. The time he spent learning to ride his sister’s bike, much later than was socially acceptable. The time he spent “regarding the majority of the human race as another species”.

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