ABC News story on our Social Events for Adults on the spectrum

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Bulldogs star and ACN Ambassador Adam Elliott interviewed live on Sky Racing to promote autism awareness in 2019
St. George Leader January 2019
MacArthur Advertiser August 2018
St.George Leader August 2018
St.George Leader June 2018
Auburn Review June 2018
Sutherland Shire council Club grants interview
St.George Leader July 2017
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June 2017
​ACN supporter CLUB RIVERS sponsors a number of our programs in the St.George community. They recently interviewed Leticia, a young woman who has long benefited from what we provide and it was wonderful to receive that feedback. 
Click play below to view.
A Current Affair (unaired) interview May 2017
St.George Leader May 2017
Auburn Review April 2017
Blacktown Advocate February 2017
Auburn Review article 14 February 2017
Article on new support group in Auburn starting, Auburn review April 2016
Auburn Review 2016 Launch of new group
ACN new office opened in Illawong in late 2015.
Interview on autism studies, featuring Steve Drakoulis . Go to 25 minute mark.
A copy was sent to us of the outgoing Disability Discrimination Commissioner's address delivered in July 2014.
 ACN member Emma described it as "quite inspiring" and thought it would be worth sharing.Please see below.
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Flawed system fails autistic pupils, parents say20 FEB 12 @ 03:18PM BY CHARIS CHANG
MANLY DAILY

http://origin.manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/fear-flawed-system-autistic-pupils/

Claire Galea and son Christian, 8, who has autism, at home in Seaforth. 
IMAGINE you are a school teacher and one of your students comes running to you in tears.
She has just been shoved by another student who she tried to hug. What do you do?
“Of course they punish the kid that pushed,” Autism Community Network founder Steve Drakoulis said.
“You’re not going to punish someone for hugging but the pushing is punished.”
What some teachers don’t take into consideration, Mr Drakoulis said, is that the “naughty” child may not like hugs and may not even let his parents hug him.
“When a child who doesn’t like hugs is then repeatedly squeezed or hugged by another, he may not know how to stop it and so he pushes.”
This scenario is one that parents of autistic children are constantly fighting against, the perception that their children are troublemakers.
Mr Drakoulis, who has a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, started an online network for parents two years ago, and was surprised by how popular it has become. It now connects more than 200 families and hosts regular meetings.
“The main issue is there is not enough support from government and there is a huge waiting list for services,” Mr Drakoulis said.
He said there was also not enough awareness from principals and teachers.
“There are many educators who do a fantastic job supporting our kids but there are still too many who don’t get it. How do you support our child if you don’t understand them?”
According to figures from the NSW Education Department, the number of children diagnosed with autism almost tripled between 2003 and 2011.
Last year there were more than 8000 children diagnosed as autistic in NSW.
A majority of these attend normal classes. In 2010 there were more than 6000 autistic students in the NSW public education system.
Parents say the system is struggling to cope.
Belrose mum Alison Iacobbe said that her youngest son had been suspended a couple of times at Wakehurst Public School because teachers didn’t know how to deal with him.
Ms Iacobbe said her son had a maximum aid allowance of 10 hours per week and one hour a day was usually allocated to having a teacher’s aid support him in the playground.
“But when he couldn’t get that time, he had to sit in the office during morning tea and lunchtime.
“He felt he was treated differently and was embarrassed so he would act out.”
Ms Iacobbe said her son was devastated when he was not allowed to attend the Year 6 camp in Canberra even though she offered to act as his chaperone.
Ms Iacobbe said his behaviour had improved since attending Davidson High School but it was mostly due to a couple of “particularly caring” staff who went out of their way to help her son.
Seaforth mum Claire Galea said the way autistic children were treated varied widely depending on the school and it was up to each school to decide whether teachers were trained.
Her son Christian Austen attends Balgowlah North Public School but the school has no formal policy for autistic children.
The $1480 extra funding provided by the Education Department for her son only covered a teacher’s aid for 27 hours last year.
“Any support over and above this is up to the individual school,” she said.
Ms Galea said there should be a co-ordinated approach to autism in schools at the state level and this should govern training and funding. Some schools do not even know what funding they are eligible for, she said.
She has started a petition to gain support for a state-wide approach to autism. 
She said support was especially worthwhile for autistic children as early intervention was crucial for helping them to adapt to society.
``The schools really do not understand what they are dealing with and the response at the moment is woefully inadequate.
``My son’s school didn’t know how to deal with him and they didn’t know what support was available,’’ she said.
``So I think it is the state’s responsibility, and not the individual schools, to provide and implement a statewide approach to autism.’‘
The NSW Education Department says teachers are best placed to understand the learning needs of their students with autism.
A department spokeswoman said its official policy for dealing with autistic students had the same requirements as for all students.
``They are given full access to the NSW Board of Studies curriculum, subject, in the case of Autism Spectrum Disorder, to reasonable adjustments best determined by class teachers and school learning support teams.’‘
She said of the 61,144 teachers in NSW public schools, 3583 teachers and support staff had completed or were currently undertaking autism training.
A partnership announced this year with the federal government would see an additional $48 million worth of federal funding go to supporting students with a disability.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell said teachers would get increased access to accredited online training in areas such as autism.
Teachers will also have access to targeted professional learning to work with students with complex learning difficulties in years 3 to 8, he said.
The Autism Community Network is at www.autismcommunity.com.au

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OATLEY MP Mark Coure wants to acknowledge and thank the many volunteers and organisations in St George for their important work helping the community.

The third St George Community Awards, held recently, recognised local individuals and groups for their outstanding service to the community.

Mr Coure said more than 80 nominations were received this year and more than 60 awards were presented.

"I'm proud to represent an area that is so community minded and it was great to celebrate the contribution of individuals and organisations that enrich our community," Mr Coure said.

"Volunteering and giving back to the community is so important and builds a strong community, which is something I love about living in St George."

He said the presence of the Governor, Professor Marie Bashir, highlighted the significance of the awards to St George.

"I've been fortunate enough to have been born and raised in St George and I've seen a strong community spirit firsthand through the organisations I've been involved with such as the Lions Club, Oatley RSL, Mortdale Community Services and local school councils.

"It was great to meet with the many who make St George such a great place to live and to thank them for their service."

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PARENTS and teachers hope that children with learning disabilities will get a healthy boost in special needs education support this year.

Work is under way to develop a national disability insurance scheme, which aims to ensure Australians with disabilities have better access to services in the community.

The federal government committed $1 billion in the budget to support the first stage of the scheme.

Teachers and parents said special needs units in schools were in particularly desperate need of more funding.

Almost 80 per cent of students who have a disability are enrolled in mainstream schools.

During the past 24 years, the number of students in NSW public schools who had some form of disability increased from 1.9 per cent to 4.7 per cent, or 35,000 students.

Earlier this year, the state government promised to give schools an extra $47.9 million under the national "More Support for Students with Disabilities" initiative.

Money will go towards additional resources including new technology in classrooms and staff training.

Many crying out for help

Steven Drakoulis said he was lucky that his son George, 10, had the support he needed at school.

But he knows that many families are crying out for help.

The Beverly Hills father said he realised the extent of the demand after he established a Sydney-wide autism support network.

The free weekly meetings are an outlet for parents to share experiences about the difficulties associated with raising autistic children.

"A lot of things have changed for the better in recent years," he said. "It used to be that if your child didn't look disabled, it was assumed support wasn't needed.

"You often hear of the government making services available but so many people don't know about them.

"There is not enough happening at schools," he said. "Children fall behind and as a result, are left further isolated.

"We are very fortunate because my son has good support at school.

"Even though he struggles socially, he's never been bullied, he always makes friends and excels academically."

Mr Drakoulis hosts meetings for parents at Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre every second Thursday from 10am to noon.