The high profile case of a man with Asperger’s Syndrome being charged with stealing light fittings has drawn attention to the autism spectrum.

Police are continuing to pursue the case against Arie Smith-Voorkamp despite his mental disability and the fact he has no criminal history.

This week the police also announced they would investigate the Sunday programme over the story.

Arie and about 40,000 other New Zealanders are wired differently and can be obsessive, talented and have special needs.

The strain on their families is huge and 14 years ago a teenage girl with severe behavioural problems was killed by her mother.

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 Beachgoers are being warned to stay out of the water this weekend at four popular beaches around New York City after raw sewage from a Manhattan plant spilled into the Hudson River, authorities said.

Health advisories also have been issued for portions of the Hudson River, the East River, the Harlem River and the Kill Van Kull, cautioning people against participating in water-related activities such as canoeing, kayaking and swimming, according to the New York City Department of Health.

The sewage spill began Wednesday after a fire began in the engine room of the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to a press release Friday from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The sewage spill was stopped Friday night, and two of the engines damaged by the fire have been brought back online, the department said.

The health advisories were issued for South Beach, Midland Beach and Cedar Grove Beach on Staten Island, and Sea Gate in Brooklyn, according to the release.

The beaches are not closed, but the New York City Department of Health recommends that people not swim or enter the water at those locations. Read more…

A group of people with hearing loss injuries are celebrating after their claim of discrimination by ACC was accepted by the Human Rights Commission.

The group of nine, represented by the National Foundation for the Deaf, submitted that ACC’s hearing-loss threshold before it will accept a claim, and its age-deduction scale, were both discriminatory on the grounds of age and disability.

ACC will now be invited to participate in mediation.

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When you get a prescription for eyeglasses, you will see a chart where the optometrist will write numbers for your prescription. These numbers represent nearsightedness or farsightedness, cylinder and axis. Cylinder and axis are the numbers that refer to astigmatism and how it affects the focal points in a person’s field of vision.

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