Outrage as autistic boy is chained to a chair using a weighted belt and ankle straps during school lessons to 'keep him under control'

By bobb |
  • Mother claims her autistic son is restrained at NSW Mid North Coast school
  • The mother posted pictures of the chairs and complained on Facebook
  • She said the boy, aged six, is locked into a chair with a weighted seat belt
  • The chair also has ankle straps and a box to restrain his feet
  • He also allegedly is put in a 'weighted vest' during class-time
  • The boy suffers non-verbal autism and intellectual impairment, she said

Supporting students with autism in the classroom: what teachers need to know

By bobb |

Beth Saggers, Senior Lecturer - Education and autism , Queensland University of Technology

In our series, Better Teachers, we’ll explore how to improve teacher education in Australia. We’ll look at what the evidence says on a range of themes including how to raise the status of the profession and measure and improve teacher quality.

Aspect chief Adrian Ford should resign over abuse allegations, says Autism Awareness Australia

By bobb |

Rachel Browne, SMH

A leading disability advocacy group has demanded the resignation of the chief executive of the country's largest autism service provider in the wake of a series of allegations about mistreatment of children in its care.

The call for Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) chief executive Adrian Ford to resign comes as state and territory ministers fail to agree on proposed safety and quality measures under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Autism cage details emerge as United Nations investigates abuse of children

By bobb |

Emma Macdonald 

Disturbing new details of a Canberra school placing a 10-year-old boy with autism in a cage have come to light, as the case spearheads an investigation by the United Nations into potential human rights violations of 55 students with disabilities across Australian schools.

While the boy's parents do not wish to make a public statement and do not want their son's identity or school revealed, Fairfax Media can confirm that the boy was forcibly placed in the cage on a handful of occasions early last year.

NDIS 'a new risk' for disabled kids

By bobb |

Children with disabilities could face new risks under the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), a national inquiry has been told.

Gail Furness, SC, counsel assisting the royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse, said greater choice and control under the NDIS, which is being rolled out across the nation, means "the ways in which children with disability are protected in institutions will need to deal with the risks".

Autism is leading disability type for students restrained in Aussie schools

By bobb |

A summary of dozens of cases of students with disability who were restrained in Aussie schools and reported to the United Nations shows autism/ASD was the predominant disability among the students.

The report, entitled Summary: Human Rights Violations of Disabled Children in Australian Education settings, is available from https://www.scribd.com/document/3188645… or the links below. 

UN asked to investigate 'abuses' of disabled students in Australian schools

By bobb |

Henrietta Cook

The United Nations has been asked to investigate dozens of incidents in which children with disabilities were allegedly assaulted, locked in dark rooms and restrained in Australian schools.

The request, which was made on behalf of 55 families by a group of disability organisations, cited "widespread and grave" violations of students' human rights.

The group is seeking international intervention because it claims Australia has failed to act.

Government persists with same old disability vilification strategy ... expecting a different employment result

By bobb |

Yet again, the Government is kicking people off welfare benefits hoping that they will move into jobs (see Crackdown throws thousands off disability support pension).  This pathetic repetition of oft tried and always failed approach comes from a Government that is crowing about innovation: it clearly shows Governments cannot come up with a new approach. 

Tears as autistic man alleges abuse

By bobb |

People shed tears at a Sydney hearing as they watched a young man with autism become agitated as he slowly typed about being abused at a NSW disability centre.

The royal commission into child sexual abuse showed videotaped evidence from the now 20-year-old on Tuesday during a hearing into how service providers The Disability Trust and Shoalhaven Interchange, both in south Sydney, handled allegations of abuse.

The man, known as CIE, uses a QWERTY keyboard to communicate.

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