How do you rate the services available in Australia?

gavin

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the current level of services that are available here in Australia for disabled and autistic people. I think they are pretty poor personally, you have to push through all of the bureaucracy before anything is done.

Jenni28 · DAO training member Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 23

Although there are some great service providers around the waiting lists to see someone can be so long. We are trying to get our 12 year old daughter into an alternative school but the red tape just seems to block us no matter which way we turn.

It makes me so Mad

natalie · Site Admin Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 16

Jenni28,

I would absolutely have to agree with you in regards to your last post Very Happy

I know from personal experience that there are great service providers around however the lack of funding and the long waiting lists can take some time for family's to be seen.

I finally have my daughter in a Alternative School and let me tell you...i only know to well the"Red Tape" scenario. I would suggest that you sit down write a letter documenting all your concerns in relation to your daughter and outline the problems she has en counted at a main stream school setting.

After you have done this go to your local MP office in your district and make an appointment to see your MP.Alternatively if MP is not available speak to MP representatives they are just as helpful as i have en counted myself.

It makes me so made Mad

pakrat · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 3:58 am Post subject:

I agree that the services in Australia are generally not very good. In North Queensland, it took me nearly 8 years between the time I suspected I had Aspergers to get an official diagnosis.

I work in the public service and started having significant problems when they tried to make me do much more phone based work. I have a phone phobia and was gradually overcoming it in one area but then had quite a few bad experiences with calls in another and it was getting to the point where I was about to lose the job and was exhibiting worrying behaviours.

Finally, I was referred to the Commonwealth Medical Officer who came over from New Zealand and had trained under Tony Attwood. It took him just five minutes to come up with a diagnosis of Aspergers' syndrome (this was back in 2003).

12 months later, I was sent back to him as further issues developed after I was bullied by a manager at work and then he also diagnosed chronic low-grade depression.

It was important to have the diagnosis as now I have a registered disability, I cannot be forced onto call centre type work and cannot be sacked so easily.

From being involved in a couple of local autism support groups, I know that parents of autistic children AND adults are continually worried about the low or nil availability of suitable services for them and their children.

Where I live, there only seems to be one or two doctors who know about Aspergers, so even getting an official diagnosis in the first place is a major hurdle. The few services available usually require an official diagnosis.

There is a crying need for good respite care, especially for older children and adults as the burden of care falls upon the parents and they eventually burn out.

The best amount of service I've come across so far is a local employment agency that has a number of Asperger's and HFA people on its books and they do a great deal to help these people find work.

Unfortunately, there is still much ignorance about Asperger's and HFA.

I don't know how many times I've been told I can't have Asperger's because I'm a woman. Plus, there are all these people who assume I'm "all better" because I have a job but it hasn't ever been easy.

By no means am I "all better": I can cope with a certain amount of stress but not as much as most people, and sensory issues such as with screaming kids cause hassles with going out to anywhere that it is a bit crowded.

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