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 The act requiring the new educational standards regime was passed through all its stages in Parliament in 24 hours just before Christmas 2008. It did not go to a select committee where the public, autism advocates, and those with lived experience, could make submissions. This was unfortunate as some of us could have pointed out the negative implications [...]

Caroline Quick and Andrew Dever are two articulate young adults, who, like many other emerging researchers, are seeking research funding for their work. They have recently left Allenvale Special School in Christchurch and Caroline is currently attending a two year life skills course at CPIT and Andrew is at Skillwise.  They are now conducting their own participatory focus group [...]

From Ari Ne’eman and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (see contact details below)

Excerpts from “Lives Edward Kennedy changed” by Jennifer Maloney from August 26 issue of Newsday

“Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s sweeping legislative record spans nearly five decades and includes monumental shifts in social policy that improved the lives of millions. A liberal lion who roared [...]

The previous post mentioned Martin Sullivan’s keynote address to the Disability Studies Conference in Sydney. Although it only briefly mentions autism specifically, it is a rare academic assessment of disability issues locally, and the links between the Treaty of Waitangi and the NZ Disability Strategy.   
Keynote address to the Disability Studies Conference, Disability Studies Research Centre, University [...]

Thursday 2 April was World Autism Day 
President Obama didn’t forget World Autism Awareness Day and his office sent out this message
 Hello,
Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy,
advised me to send you the following attachments.
Thank you for all that you do,
Matt Tranchin
The White House
Office of Public Liaison

March 30, 2009

It is with profound commitment [...]

Firstly, happy New Year to everyone involved with this great website. New Year’s Resolution- fit a little time in the busy nature of life in disability advocacy to post here.
Hope everyone’s holidays have been good? I have really enjoyed taking time out and recharging the batteries with my family here in Blenheim. But in truth, [...]

Ari Ne’eman, who runs the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in the US, has sent out their recommendations about autism to the Obama Transition Team. President-elect Obama has already promised to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and even had autism-specific policies in his election manifesto. These recommendations have been made at the request of the Transition Team, [...]

[This is an abridged version of a paper I gave as part of a symposium on the NZ ASD Guideline at the Australasian ASSID conference in Melbourne on 26 November 2008. I would be interested in any feedback.] 
Introduction
The New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline is a whole of spectrum, whole of life, whole of government approach [...]

The Herald on Sunday has a story about the death of Finn Higgins, noting that “an independent review of his situation shows that the mental health crisis team failed Higgins at every turn.”
Che Tibby is justifiably angry in response, and there are some useful comments under his blog post, including one from Finn’s mother, Diane [...]

Finn Higgins was known to users of the Public Address System discussion forums as a keen-minded, literate, witty and sensitive debater, and an asset to the community. What we could not know was the extent to which he was struggling with depression and anxiety in his personal life. These problems were related to an undiagnosed [...]