Australia Day AM Honour for Dr James Morton

27 January 2015

Dr James Morton has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2015 Australia Day Honours in recognition of his outstanding achievements and service to fellow citizens through his work as an Oncologist and founder and Chairman of the AEIOU Foundation for children with autism.

Dr Morton said, “I’m absolutely delighted for my work with AEIOU to be recognised in this way. It wouldn’t be possible without the AEIOU team and supporters who have enabled the organisation to grow as it has over the last 10 years, to help more and more children with autism.”

“My wife, Louise, and I were inspired to establish AEIOU by our son Andrew who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. We were seeking the best possible early intervention program for Andrew and a pilot program through Education Queensland produced great results but was closed in 2003. We continued intensive therapy at home and found at that time in Australia there was no other early intervention program for children that took place in a social setting where children with autism could be with others.

“Before we started AEIOU, families seeking intensive early intervention for their children were being forced to sacrifice their financial future to self-fund their child’s therapy at full cost. Programs like AEIOU have made a significant difference in making early intervention more accessible.

“If you can reach children early enough with early intervention you can drastically change their life trajectory,” Dr Morton said.

The first AEIOU centre was opened in Moorooka, Queensland in February 2005. The centre was dedicated solely to an intensive early intervention learning program for children with an autism diagnosis.

Today, AEIOU Foundation is one of Australia's largest providers of full-time and part-time early intervention for children with autism through an education and therapy program which meets the 2012 Australian Good Practice Guidelines. With nine centres across Queensland and one in Adelaide, AEIOU supports over 200 pre-school aged children with an autism diagnosis each year to develop vital skills. Around 70 per cent of children who complete the program successfully transition to mainstream school.

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Media enquiries: Faye Lawrence, Corporate Affairs Manager, t: 0400 552 139, e: faye.lawrence@aeiou.org.au