Elizabeth Byrne

Two Canberra teenagers are free on good behaviour orders after using a toy gun to try to rob a boy who has autism earlier this year.

During the attack in May the 17-year-olds pushed the boy up against a wall outside a Canberra supermarket using the gun to demand he hand over his wallet.

The pair fled empty-handed when the boy refused to cooperate.

The revelation earlier this year that hundreds of thousands of students with a disability are in school without any additional funding to support their education has been reinforced by new statistics.

 Michael Gorey

The public sector is well suited to employing people with autism but more needs to be done to foster workplace diversity, according to disability employment advocate Bill Gamack.

Mr Gamack's firm EPIC Assist is opening a Canberra office next month in partnership with Danish company Specialisterne.

Stephen Jeffery​ 

The ACT government and the federal agency overseeing the National Disability Insurance Scheme rollout have resumed planning meetings to cope with increased demand.

Negotiations between the territory and Commonwealth over which government would provide more funding to participants beyond the initial target of 5075 stalled during caretaker mode prior to the ACT election.

The aunt of Damien Ezzy says his family has been touched and moved by the community's efforts to find him after he was discovered safe and well on Saturday.

Australian Federal Police search and rescue patrols found Mr Ezzy, who has autism, near the side of Woodcock Drive, Gordon, about 9.30am after a woman reported seeing him near a pond.

Police said Mr Ezzy was found with another woman, who did not have a phone and decided to walk with him until she could get help because "he seemed vulnerable".

Could Shakespeare help children with autism improve their social skills? A new study of a drama-based intervention suggests that this may well be the case.

Researchers from Ohio State University found that a novel method using Shakespeare's The Tempest – which combines recitation of The Bard's language with physical gestures – lead to improvements in communication skills and recognition of facial expressions, in young people with autism.

A key support service for more than 2000 people affected by autism and Asperger's syndrome has been saved by a last-minute merger after funding changes sparked by the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme cast doubt over its future.

Autism Asperger ACT services are to be folded into a specialised autism unit run by Canberra-based organisation Marymead under a move hoped to bolster support for children and families. 

Nelle Frances, Managing Director at AspergerChild.com

The Shaddock review (ABC News) released this week, highlighted that there's a lack of clear policy regarding the escalation of behavioural issues in the Education sector:-