Autism and Violence Rhetoric: Explanation, Excuse, Justification?

To the multitude who have arrived at this post by searching for “autism and violence” in the wake of the mass shooting in the USA: Nothing in this post is relevant to those types of events. The sorts of people … Continue reading →

Remaining Minor Party Disability Policies (inc. Maori, Mana, NZ First, etc)

With only two days to go until the New Zealand General Election, I’m not going to have enough time to do a post per minor Party for the ones I haven’t covered yet. So I’m going to combine all the … Continue reading →

The National Party’s Disability / Autism-Relevant Policies, in the 2011 General Election

The National Party has led the New Zealand Government over the past few years and, of course, are running in the elections (held this upcoming Saturday, yes that means these political posts will be finished soon!) to retain that leadership … Continue reading →

NZ Labour Party’s Disability Policy (particularly as relevant to autism families).

The Labour Party is one of the two major Political Parties running in this year’s General Election in New Zealand. There’s a lot of information about their disability / autism-relevant policies, drip-fed over the past few months. I’m going to … Continue reading →

Fight, Move, Adapt? When the local education doesn’t match your autistic child

A recent news story about a violent seven-year old autistic boy who has been excluded from the mainstream school he was attending, has started a passionate discussion about whether the school or the parent is in the right: Has the … Continue reading →

Libertarianz Policy Relevant to Autism / Disability Issues, in the 2011 NZ General Election

One of the many minor political Parties running in the 2011 NZ General Elections, is the Libertarianz Party. Their disability policy can be found on their website, here. It is the most confrontational disability policy I have encountered so far … Continue reading →

The Problem with Carers

Taking a break from looking after my autistic son was something I desperately needed, but couldn’t get. Not because I couldn’t find people willing to look after him; once I figured out where to look there were plenty of people … Continue reading →

Commentary on the Campbell Live story about mainstreaming special needs children

Tonight I stumbled upon a brief story on the local current affairs show “Campbell Live”, about the mainstreaming of special needs children. The story was about some special needs classrooms shutting down, meaning that these children – some of whom … Continue reading →

ACT’s Disability-Relevant Policies, NZ Election 2011

As the 2011 New Zealand General Election moves ever closer (under three weeks to go), I’m still struggling to access all the Parties’ policies on – or relevant to – disability (with my particular focus on how those policies impact … Continue reading →

Consequences of underestimating and overestimating my autistic son

Trying to figure out how much my son understands and what he is capable of, is a challenge in itself. I see people – both strangers and those who know him well – regularly and significantly over and under-estimate his … Continue reading →