Autism campaigners around the world are urging Pope Benedict XVI to act on autism in the wake of the banning of a 13 year old boy with severe autism from the Roman Catholic Church of St.Joseph, in Bertha, Minnesota in the United States.

Leading blindness charity Sightsavers International has has welcomed the coming into force of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Disabled children make up a third of the 77 million children worldwide who are excluded from education - equivalent to twice the number of children living in the UK. This is the conclusion of a new report published by Christian development agency World Vision. Click here to support disabled children with World Vision Alternative Gifts

A church school’s refusal to admit a wheelchair-bound child highlights important questions of access, inclusion and the duties of both voluntary-aided schools and the whole education sector, says the parent involved.

Britain's schools, including those run by faith groups, talk of inclusion. But Jonathan Bartley's wheelchair-bound son Samuel has found that the church and education authorities are reluctant to put their money where their mouth is.

A church charity is urging the Government to grant all disabled children placed away from home unconditional access to an independent advocate.

The National Council of Churches USA (NCCUSA) and 20 faith organizations have joined forces as part of 100 national civil rights, education, and disability advocacy groups calling for major changes in the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law - which enacts the theories of ‘standards-based education reform', based on the belief that high expectations and setting of goals will result in success for all students.