Katie Burgess

Less than half of Canberra families say the National Disability Insurance Scheme has improved their child's access to education, as experts say the scheme is not working well with state and territory education departments.

Only 48 per cent of participants aged 6 to 14 in the ACT have seen an improvement in their access to education under the scheme, according to the COAG disability reform council's latest quarterly report.

Sandra Jones, Australian Catholic University

Around 1% of the population has an autism spectrum disorder, with estimates ranging from one in 150 to one in 70.

Bec Whetham

Relationships can have their challenges, but what if the challenges relate to an inherent part of a person?

A Melbourne therapist said that was the question being raised for many couples where one partner did not know they were autistic.

Melbourne-based autism therapist and special education teacher Jo White has spent the past 20 years working with autistic children, adults and their parents.

Andrew Whitehouse, University of Western Australia

A new study that combines data from over 20 million births has found that a caesarean section delivery is associated with autism spectrum disorder (autism) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Caitlin Fitzsimmons

One in five parents of children with ADHD have been urged by their school to seek a different diagnosis as a means to gain funding for teacher's aides and other support for their child at school.

Teachers are pushing families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to try to obtain a diagnosis with better support in the school system – mainly autism, but also oppositional defiance disorder (ODD) or extreme anxiety. The national survey of 1184 parents of children with ADHD found 21 per cent had experienced pressure for "escalated diagnosis".

A woman who says she has been denied a new wheelchair for her severely disabled daughter has invited her local MP — who is also the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme — to sit in on a meeting about the girl's needs.

Gold Coast resident Shannon Manning said seven-year-old Meadow had severe autism and required a wheelchair to go out in public, but had been knocked back because she was "not disabled enough".