Spectrum SA: Developmental Educator

04/06/2026

Read more: https://trib.al/yzdj8Iy

04/06/2026

There is certainly fraud happening - but not at the scale the fear-mongers with an agenda are claiming!

"Why is Australia accepting this ‘broken promise’ to people with disability?" writes Chris Coombes, expert on the NDIS.

"It can’t be because we can’t afford it – the hundreds of billions in free gas giveaways and dodgy submarine deals prove that."
"No, the public was softened up by relentless claims about NDIS fraud."

"While some of these claims come from conservative, ideological opponents to the NDIS, they are so common that the ABC can now report on “a tsunami of rorting estimated to be worth up to $8 billion a year,” without even referencing where the number comes from, let alone putting it under any scrutiny."

Read the full piece on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/260604-are-we-being-misled-about-ndis-fraud-yes-we-are

02/06/2026

02/06/2026

The Federal Government is quietly pushing through the proposed “Securing the NDIS for Future Generations” Bill 2026 and families need to pay very close attention to the language around “parental responsibility” and “informal supports.”

Because behind the political spin is something far more dangerous:

The normalisation of exploiting parents particularly women to prop up a disability system governments no longer want to properly fund.

Let’s call it exactly what it is.

This Bill risks embedding the expectation that mothers should absorb the gaps left by government failure through endless unpaid labour.

Labour that destroys careers.
Destroys financial security.
Destroys mental health.
Destroys relationships.
Destroys physical health.
Destroys futures.

And society applauds it as good parenting.

Women are already leaving the workforce in staggering numbers to care for disabled children because the system is so inadequate. Many lose:

* careers,
* income,
* superannuation,
* independence,
* housing security,
* and long-term financial stability.

Many become trapped in poverty while performing work that would otherwise cost governments hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Yet now we are seeing increasing language suggesting parents should simply do more.

More therapy support.
More behavioural support.
More supervision.
More transport.
More regulation support.
More crisis management.
More school advocacy.
More care overnight.
More unpaid labour.

All under the banner of “reasonable parental responsibility.”

Disabled children do not become less disabled because their mother is exhausted enough.

And carers are not an unlimited government resource to exploit for budget savings.

The reality is many families are already beyond breaking point:

* surviving on fragmented sleep,
* managing severe behaviours,
* handling trauma and school refusal,
* attending endless appointments,
* fighting systems daily,
* unable to maintain employment,
* and carrying levels of responsibility most people could not sustain for even days.

This is not natural parenting, It is systemic exploitation.

And overwhelmingly, it is women carrying the burden.

The Senate Inquiry is currently accepting submissions into the proposed Bill.

If you are a parent, participant, advocate, educator or professional make a submission.

Tell them what this language will mean in real life.

Because once “parental responsibility” becomes a legislative loophole to deny supports, families will pay the price for generations.

Submit here:
https://buff.ly/TCxgdX8

31/05/2026

We’re not very good “stewards” of planet earth, are we?!

In the late nineteen eighties, Susie Creek in northeastern Nevada was barely a creek at all. It was a thin sliver of water cutting through a barren gravel ba...

31/05/2026

Brilliant!!

29/05/2026

Hello. Hope you’re ok wherever you are. It’s been so hot here I melted.

26/05/2026

20/05/2026

Sir Simon Baron-Cohen has spent his career trying to understand autism from the inside out.

The Cambridge University professor and director of the Autism Research Centre just received the 2026 Grawemeyer Award in Psychology — widely considered the most prestigious prize in the field, and one of the closest equivalents to a Nobel Prize for psychological research.

The award recognises his prenatal s*x steroid theory of autism — the idea that elevated testosterone levels in the womb influence brain development in ways associated with autism. His work has reshaped how researchers understand the biology behind autistic traits and opened new avenues for early identification.

Baron-Cohen has also been one of the leading voices arguing for a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming approach to autism — pushing back against deficit-only frameworks and advocating for autistic people’s right to be understood on their own terms.

The prize has previously recognised some of the most influential work in psychological science.

Source: University of Cambridge / Grawemeyer Awards.

10/01/2026

MS may not be genetic bad luck after all.
A landmark study of 10 million military personnel confirmed Epstein-Barr virus is the leading cause of Multiple Sclerosis. This shifts everything. A vaccine for this common virus could potentially eradicate MS entirely. One virus. One target. A disease erased.

Shared for informational purposes only.
Source: Science