By Jacob Kagi

A purpose-built clinic in East Fremantle providing "applied behaviour analysis" (ABA), run by a private operator called The Complete Advantage was set to cease that service within months.The West Australian Government is being urged to ensure the survival of a provider of a type of intensive autism therapy which is set to shut down.

Thu 11 Dec 2014, 1:12am

YASMINE PHILLIPS Education Reporter PerthNow July 06, 2014

Silvana Gaglia with her son Julian, 17, at Autism WA. She is pushing for an autism-specific school in WA.

Silvana Gaglia with her son Julian, 17, at Autism WA. She is pushing for an autism-specific school in WA.

TEACHERS are struggling to care for the skyrocketing number of students with autism while also looking after “30 other eager minds” in their classrooms.

The number of students attending public schools that are being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder has doubled in the past five years to more than 3200 — up from 1600 in 2009.

Yet, WA is the only major state without an autism-specific school.

The Education Department insists mainstream schools are the “best way for students with autism to reach their potential”.

But teachers on the frontline told The Sunday Times this week that schools are not adequately equipped to deal with autistic students, of whom “no two are alike”.

Telethon Kids Institute head of autism research Andrew Whitehouse said WA was the only major state in Australia not to have an autism-specific school.

Andrew Whitehouse, 18 Nov 2013

The internet was ablaze last week with the news that health authorities in Western Australia (WA) have given approval for IVF clinics to ‘screen’ embryos to reduce the chances of a couple having a child with autism.

Kerry Faulkner 13 Nov 2013

The paper describes that rather than a single entity, autism is multiple disorders.

INFORMATION from the families of 1200 children with autism will be collected from next month to begin the largest autism data study in Australia which includes a team of WA researchers.

Telethon Institute of Child Health Research’s Andrew Whitehouse says the project involves several prominent research groups across the nation under the umbrella of the Autism Co-operative Research Centre for Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders which received $31 million over eight years from the Federal Government earlier this year.

Professor Whitehouse says the centre will further extensive work by Telethon including its recent ‘proof of principle’ research which advocates a new approach to autism investigation and whose findings have been documented in the Frontiers of Human Science Journal.

WA first: Reproductive Technology Council approves application for fertility clinic to screen for autism

Cathy O'Leary Medical Editor, The West Australian

For the first time, WA health authorities have allowed embryos to be screened to reduce the chance of a high-risk family having a child with autism.

The Reproductive Technology Council approved the application for a fertility clinic to do a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, to screen for autism.

There are no genetic tests for autism, so instead of looking for a gene mutation, the screening identifies the embryo's sex because boys are at least four times more likely to develop autism.

It is a new frontier in embryo screening because, unlike other conditions with a distinct genetic basis, autism is believed to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Testing identifies the embryo's sex because boys are at least four times more likely to develop autism.
CATHY O'LEARY October 19, 2013

For the first time, WA health authorities have allowed embryos to be screened to reduce the chance of a high-risk family having a child with autism.

The Reproductive Technology Council approved the application for a fertility clinic to do a pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, to screen for autism.

TrackingCentral Pty. Ltd, a Brisbane based company supplies a miniature GPS Personal Location device called CareTracker which is used by carers or family members to locate a loved one in the event they wander off or become lost.

The CareTracker is the size of a match box and can be carried in a pocket or backpack or else securely attached to the wrist / ankle or clothing. The CareTracker has a battery life of up to 20 days.

Lee-Maree Gallo
December 21, 2010

One of Perth's most prestigious private girls' school has admitted discriminating against an autistic girl after an emotional two-year legal battle.

Methodist Ladies College was forced to admit it failed to provide appropriate educational assistance to the girl after a settlement reached in the Federal Magistrate's Court.

Mandy and Andrew Masons' six-year-old daughter was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two.