LIFE had always had its challenges for Sean, but it wasn't until he was in his 40s that the Raymond Terrace man was formally diagnosed with autism.

The father of three said he saw similar personality traits between himself and his youngest son, who also has autism.

The NDIS support has allowed Sean to flourish in his own small business, a local lawn mowing service.

Sean now has supports to improve his mobility, reduce muscle pain plus support workers.

Following is correspondence with the new NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission. It shows this Commission:

The Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS reported on NDIS Market Readiness.

Basically, the Committee found that the disability sector is not “market ready” and the NDIA needs to do much more to ensure that the NDIS achieves its goals.

The report concludes:

Thank you for your email of 11 August 2018 to the former Minister for Social Services, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and registered behavioural clinicians. Your correspondence has been referred to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for reply. I apologise for the delay in responding.

Madeleine Ryan

I'm autistic, and I've rarely ever seen myself in the television characters that are supposed to represent me. There seem to be a lot of doctors, detectives – and dudes. It's hard to find stories about openly autistic girls and women navigating life as openly autistic girls and women; and even harder to find ones where autism is treated as more than a freakish gift, or as a disability.

Frank Chung

COLES is rolling out its autism-friendly, “low-sensory” Quiet Hour shopping experiment nationwide, with reduced noise, lighting and in-store distractions.

COLES will dim the lights, turn down the music and reduce in-store distractions at 173 stores from tomorrow as it more than doubles the number of Quiet Hour locations.

Cassandra Hough

It is not easy for people on the autism spectrum to find work, but an Australian piggery is trying to change that.

SunPork Farms is part of an initiative called Autism and Agriculture which is aiming to develop career paths for people on the autism spectrum in animal care roles.

In Australia only about 40 per cent of autistic adults have a job.

Another commentary on the NDIS.

It shouldn’t be hard to prove you don’t have any legs, right? Adam Bowes shares his (quite frustrating) experience with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

For people with autism, travelling on public transport can be traumatic and stressful experience making them highly anxious. Autism is characterised by limited communication and reduced social skills, repetitive behaviour and high sensitivity to light, sound, touch and smell. People with autism enjoy routine. So late news that a train or bus is delayed or cancelled, can bring with it extreme frustration and disorientation.