Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Today I'm going to use my time to read a message sent to me from a constituent responding to the government's announcement of the Thriving Kids program and the planned NDIS eligibility changes.

I'm an Autistic and ADHD parent of multiple neurodivergent young people, as well as an NDIS behaviour support practitioner.

Had I received in childhood, the therapies and supports now being denied, my trajectory would have been utterly different.

I am living proof of what happens when support is withheld.

The therapy and support I finally found in mid-adulthood gave me stability, identity, and confidence—the very foundations I needed and deserved as a child.

Stripping autistic kids of support is not frugality; it is a policy choice that will cause irreparable generational harm.

This is just one of the many stories shared with me since the government's announcement.

Autistic kids grow into autistic adults because autism is life long. The NDIS was meant to provide individualised support, but time and time again we have seen nuance stripped away. These decisions shape lives. They have the power to build futures or to break them. Disabled people are fighting to be heard. It is time for this government to get its fingers out of its ears.