Hanson autism speech ‘backward looking’ says Qld academic

One of Australia’s leading autism researchers has called One Nation senator Pauline Hanson’s controversial comments about autistic children “ill-informed and distressing”.

Jacqueline Roberts, director of Griffith University’s autism centre of excellence in Brisbane, has also called for school principals “to lead the way” in developing effective training programmes for teachers working with autistic children.

During a senate debate on education funding on 22 June, Hanson claimed autistic children were disruptive, “holding other children back from learning” and should be placed in “special needs” classes.