South Australia's autistic community wants the new minister for the disability to raise public awareness and improve access to support in schools.
Logan Burn lives in the regional Riverland town of Berri.
Monkeys are his favourite animal, he loves to play with his friends at school, he has a knack for the piano and he also has autism.
Over the past few years, Logan's made leaps and bounds in his ability to self-regulate, thanks to help from friends, family and support workers like his occupational therapist (OT).
His mum Molly Murphy said it had been a difficult journey.
"One of the biggest struggles in the Riverland is access to services," she said.
"You're travelling across regions and towns, and with work it's really impractical."
Logan has had four OTs in the last three years, and Ms Murphy said it was challenging to find consistent support.
"We've had the same issue with psychologists and speech pathologists and we've kind of given up, because to get him there, or to get them to stay is just not worth it," she said.
"For people with autism, having a new person come into your life every six to eight months is not ideal."
More in-school support
Logan's making great strides with his new OT who visits him at school, but since the therapy was not funded by the state it had taken a large chunk out of his NDIS funding.
Ms Murphy wanted to see these services supplied in schools, a commitment which was made by South Australia's newly appointed Assistant Minister for Autism, Emily Bourke.
"Part of our policy is to invest $50 million for 100 new speech pathologists, OTs, psychologists and other supports in our schools," Ms Bourke said.
"I know parents and autistic students probably want more support as well, but I'm proud that at least this is a start, it's a government that has recognised there needs to be more support in our schools so that we can help provide that free support in our classrooms."
Ms Murphy also called for teachers to be better trained in supporting students with autism.
"Logan's teachers have had to learn along the way with us, as opposed to having that information already," she said.
"It's certainly made it a lot harder if he's got three or four teachers, and then one OT that's sort of in a separate environment working with 1,000 kids, as opposed to just having his teachers educated in how to deal with neurodiverse people."
Push for a wider understanding of autism
Riverland artist Kat Bell loves getting lost in a new creative project, and her son Anthony is a keen chef with a passion for experimenting with new flavours.
They both have autism.
Ms Bell, a Gudjula and Girramay woman, said one of the most challenging aspects of the disability was distress, anxiety and burnout suffered as a result of masking.
Masking can look different for each individual, but Ms Bell described it as putting on a different identity and altering behaviours to fit in with neurotypical society.
One of her regular behaviours was stimming, described as repetitive or unusual body movement or noises.
"I often flap my hands or pull at my fingers and in that moment it's the sensory thing I need to do," she said.
"People around you think you're weird and they feel uncomfortable because they don't understand."
Increasing public awareness of the disability was something Ms Bell wanted Ms Bourke to prioritise.
"Having an understanding of stimming as a normal everyday requirement of people with autism or autistic people is really important to stop stigmatising and judging and thinking someone's not behaving in a normal way," Ms Bell said.
Ms Bourke said as part of her new role, she was committed to raising the general public's knowledge and understanding around the lived experience of autism.
"People know the word but the problem is that they don't know what autism means," she said.
"When people are armed with knowledge, that's when they'll be able to create change."
