By Charlotte King

A study has been released suggesting the pressures being faced by regional and rural families caring for a child with autism are greater than those in metropolitan areas. 

Carers and their families are fundamental to the quality of life for people living with autism, yet the far-reaching impact of this job can be overlooked.

The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place among groups of young people can make the social world a very daunting place for children with autism. Being at odds with their peer group can lead to social isolation, rejection, and a lack of the supportive friendships that can protect against bullying.

The equivalent of 7 per cent of Australia's workforce claims a disability pension — more than double the population of the capital Canberra — and the government needs more recipients to work to rein in a A$138 billion social-security bill it says is unsustainable.

By Angus Whitley

Allen Rankin says living on Australian welfare payments designed to help him survive his mental disability instead left him contemplating suicide.

By Emily Bourke

Thousands of Australian children with autism could miss out on government-funded support and services because of changes to the way autism is diagnosed.

The manual of medical disorders known as the DSM 5, used by psychiatrists around the world, is being updated.

The updated American guidebook for mental disorders is expected to be released in May next year, but already it has many people nervous.

Jessica Hamzelou, reporter One in every 38 children may have an autism spectrum disorder - more than double the current US estimate. The latest research in a South Korean population suggests that by overlooking children attending regular schools, previous reports wildly underestimated the true prevalence of the disorder.

The PBS NewsHour is launching a special series of reports, both on-air and online, about a puzzling disorder that touches many lives across the U.S.: Autism Now will take a unique -- and uniquely personal -- look at how the condition impacts families, schools and communities.

see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/news/autism/

So many issues haven’t made it on to the election radar. Indigenous health, rural and remote health, preventative health…and the list goes on.

While there has been some talk of improving services for children with a disability, Bob Buckley, Convenor of Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, would like to see far more action.

He writes:

“Bill Shorten and Tony Abbott raised services for children with a disability in the election campaign but their promises must be practical to win my vote.

Ten minutes in a brain scanner could be all it takes to diagnose autism. So says Christine Ecker at the Institute of Psychiatry, UK, who has developed software that identifies the anatomical signatures of the condition.

Ecker's team carried out MRI scans on the brains of 20 adult males with autism, 20 with attention-deficit disorder and 20 healthy controls. They used a machine-learning tool called a support vector machine (SVM) – which analyses data and identifies patterns – to identify key differences between the groups, such as in the cortical folding and curvature of the brain.