Special Needs

The Paralympics Games of Tokyo may have ended, but their legacy for Australia is ongoing. It's not just the excellent performance of all athletes who participated, but the eternal message that is transmitted through their presence there: That will, faith and persistence can triumph and overcome all obstacles.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way people interact with, and learn from, other people and their environment. Each person with autism has an individual learning profile of strengths and difficulties, leading it to be described as a ‘spectrum’ disorder. As Dr Stephen Shore once said, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism." Nevertheless, to receive a diagnosis of autism, all people must present with (1) social-communication difficulties and (2) restricted, repetitive, and/or sensory interests and behaviours.