Hi, just checking for someone from my work who recently relocated to Melbourne and is hoping to find someone more experienced with AUS and how to navigate and/or line up services for my 5-yr-old HFA.
If you are and willing to help with some advice to an American fresh off the boat, please PM me and I’ll put you in touch.
I believe Aspidistra is a Melburnian with a child recently diagnosed with mild autism. Also leechbabe (who used to post, but I’m not sure if she’s active here anymore) might be a good contact too.
Good luck China Guy.
you’re on the ball tonight, kam! 
I know stuff, leechbabe knows more and she has her autism blog in her profile.
PM away. Here’s some good news too for your friend, to get started.
forthcoming National Disability Insurance scheme
Services for autism are already pretty good, but other less high profile conditions often fall through the cracks. Improving services for the disabled actually appears to be on the political agenda for once though!
Thanks all
Me, but I’m in Sydney.
Happy to chat with you, but probably Aspidistra or leechbabe will know more about services for younger kids. We moved here from the US 8 years ago when my son was 8, but he wasn’t here full time until he was 12.
That said, how FOB is she? What’s her visa like? I didn’t have access to some services until I was a permanent resident. Those are the sorts of things I’d want to know to give her advice.
Happy to answer stuff from the perspective of another American mom that moved here with an HFA kid.
Sorry if I was unclear. It’s not for me but a colleague I only “know” via an alias for parents of spectrum kids at work. There are a lot of us and a couple of dozen emails a day so I really don’t know her from Adam. She wrote a “Help, I’m in Melbourne now” email and I checked SDMB and now have sent her leechbabes blog link and aspidistras link. No reply yet.
Parents of kids on the spectrum are in a club we never wanted to join but the people are pretty outstanding…
Cool, no worries. It read like she was a work colleague or something. 
She’s fresh off the boat. No idea the rest of her status.
anyway, thanks all and I’ve passed along links and info