The Canberra Times ran a story that applied pressure for funding of More Than Words course.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/autism-program-funding-blocked/1380019.aspx

Some Canberra parents of autistic children say they are being forced to pay $3000 for a privately run speech therapy training course.They say guidelines have blocked families from using promised federal government funding, five months after a national program began.The [...]

Autism Asperger ACT held their first Bubble Day in May 2009. The day was rolled out to schools with the aim to create greater awareness of autism / aspergers and the needs of children within a school setting. Through the use of bubbles, all children (mainstream or not) came together to enjoy activities.
http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.php?v=8009&m=49
Bubble Day – [...]

ABC’s Stateline program aired a foolow up story that featured that children. This story was spurred by new figures showing an increase in statistics on prevalence of autism. Prof. Tony Attwood kindly agreed to be interviewed. Melissa and the team from Stateline won a National media award for raising awareness of disabilities for their work.
Matthew [...]

ABC’s “Stateline” program aired a story titled “Gift of Speech” on Canberra speech therapy services and their availability. Our family was featured with the show airing 21st November 2008. The video may be viewed at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2008/11/24/2427895.htm
I would like to thank Melissa Polimeni for a balanced report and for choosing to show our children in a positive [...]

This article was originally printed in the Canberra Times 12/10/2008 by Emily Sherlock.
Article Link: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/oneyear-wait-for-speech-therapy/1331288.aspx
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One-year wait for speech therapy

EMILY SHERLOCK
12/10/2008 10:30:00 AM
SOME parents are being forced interstate to access speech therapy for their children because of waiting times up to a year for local public services.Access to private speech therapy in the ACT is just [...]