A warming fire crackles to life in a fire pot outside a garage workshop where the packing of firelighters will soon begin.
Austin Smith has a job, a car and a public profile. People who are non-verbal because of a disability can often feel invisible. "We moved here from the Blue Mountains in 2005 to attend Giant Steps [a specialised school for people with autism].The NDIS has helped somewhat with Austin now receiving day support.
"We can't tell you our secret recipe but they work very well, there's no smell and the paper packaging can all be burned or recycled."
He doesn't 'have' autism. He's Autistic. Anyone who writes about a subject should, at the very basic minimum, understand it BEFORE writing about it.
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