MICK GRIMLEY

The prevalence of autism is rising and, increasingly, mental health conditions are affecting school-age children. Add to these statistics social disadvantage and specific learning differences to see today’s classroom is diverse, complex and challenging.

A VICTORIAN school is facing a human rights complaint for reportedly suggesting an autistic pupil weeds and sweep footpaths as occupation therapy.

The family of Gabriel Eyre have told the Australian Human Rights Commission that Balnarring Primary School discriminated against the five-year-old prep boy.

Mum Mirinda Eyre said the school limited his attendance to less than four hours a day and regularly pulled him from the classroom.

She said the school also suggested he sweep paths and pull weeds as a form of push-pull occupational therapy.

• An eight-year-old boy with autism was locked in a plywood box to calm down
• The box had no windows, just a peephole, and measured eight cubic metres
• His mother, Melbourne woman Emily Dive, is suing the Department of Education
• Lachlan hasn't attended school in more than a year - he can't be accommodated
• Previously he was only permitted to attend school for two hours a day  

Newly created words are among entries in a Māori glossary for use in relation to mental health, addiction and disability issues.

Te Reo Hāpai - The Language of Enrichment - contains more than 200 Māori words, terms and whakatauki (proverbs).

Keri Opai, strategic lead for Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui - the national centre of mental health research, information and workforce development - headed the development of the glossary.

He says it was evident there was no Māori equivalent for many words, such as autism.

Paramount has acquired movie rights to Steve Silberman’s science book “Neurotribes” and set up the project with Lorne Michaels at his Broadway Video production company.

In a brightly lit space in one of the school's newer buildings a group of teenage boys is sitting in a rough circle playing a get-to-know you game that's a mix of musical chairs and guess who. There's the usual jokey exchanges and awkward adolescent shuffling, but nothing that sets this group apart from the norm.

Hayden Johnson

It will be some time before the National Disability Insurance Scheme fully services the needs of Tasmanians living with a disability, the chief executive of Autism Tasmania has declared.

The comments of Terry Burke, head of the state’s peak not-for-profit group for people living with autism, come one day after it was revealed a Giant Steps’ program would close.

For most of his schooling, Jack* has been locked away from his classmates.

The 15-year-old is confined to his own portable classroom, which opens onto a fenced-off playground.

Meltdowns are only a concern if they persist beyond two-and-a-half years in a child. Photo: Mark Piovesan

The fence has been covered in sheets of plastic, which means Jack – who is autistic, non-verbal and has an intellectual disability – can't see out. It also means no one can look in.