With the autism rate now "officially" at 1 in 110 (the unofficial
rate is much higher), many find it surprising that so many around us are
affected. Autism is a "spectrum disorder," meaning there are varying
degrees and severity to the condition, with a number of cases going undetected.
Awareness and screening have greatly improved in the last ten years, but we
still have a long way to go.
I have often used Daryl Hannah as an example to battle those who stand on the platform that
autism is not "curable." I contend that by "cure," I mean a functional and
happy life, without requiring institutions or drugs, while still needing protection and
support from family, friends, and caregivers. There are MANY "typical"
persons in our society that need protection and support, but who are completely dysfunctional. They are called typical
only because they are undiagnosed.
I would use Temple Grandin to prove my case, but unfortunately, many of those same persons who are self-proclaimed
autism experts aren’t even familiar with who Dr. Temple Grandin is or what her achievements are.
There is the argument that Temple Grandin has high functioning autism. High functioning means an IQ
of 80 or above. This supports the notion that most of the people diagnosed with
ASD (which includes Asperger’s Syndrome), are in fact, high functioning. The bottom line is that great results should be expected of, and provided for, all
of those on the autism spectrum.
In past generations, people often kept journals or diaries so it’s easy to compare their characteristics with those that would be diagnosed with
autism today. The dark label of autism and the stigma that goes with it are devastating to
the healing process. Once we embrace the beauty and innocence of autism so that people no longer
fear the label, we will all begin to look objectively through the branches of our own family trees. We should recognize the idiosyncrasies in our own genetics
are directly tied to the titles our children now have.
With a significant amount of research under my belt, I now find myself wondering about three of my own immediate family members, as well as myself. It would certainly justify the
issues in all of our lives.
It would also connect the misunderstandings, relationship patterns, and eccentric histories of a large number of my ancestors. My family tree encompasses members of the Magna Charta, various different countries’
royalty (both well remembered and notorious), religious crusaders, and many more who led anything but typical lifestyles.
Finding someone to sit down to hash all of this through who possesses the credentials to give appropriate labels to my colorful ancestors is another story. I would feel selfish in knowing I took up anyone’s time while a tremendous portion of our population remains undiagnosed and falling through the cracks on waiting
lists for proper services.
Even if we were all diagnosed with autism, is our culture ready for the tsunami of mental, emotional, and neurological accommodations?
Awareness, acceptance, treatment, funding, education, compassion, understanding, laws, facilities, accommodating school programs,
and transportation services all need quick re-evaluations and autism must be
a top priority. Our children are here now and deserve a higher quality of life.
Perhaps if we would all seek out our own diagnosis, when our children are labeled, they would not be
alone. I consider myself fortunate to be a part of an autistic child’s world. Life is enhanced, miracles are witnessed and I learn about my own abilities and disabilities
each day. I am a much better person for being a part of autism and I am thankful
for it.
My son is part of a pivotal influence group that has already changed the course of history for the better. I am teaching him to have pride in his
autism label and demonstrating that there is no shame in it.
By no means do I intend to marginalize or dimish the challenges of autism, particularly those associated with “lower-functioning” individuals. However, autism is autism and those who have it are all in the hurricane. Some just happen to be in the eye-wall, while others experience the outer feeder bands.
It’s important to note that until the 1940s, autism was mistakenly categorized as various other disorders such as
schizophrenia. Dr. Leo Kanner noted the uniquely distinct patterns of behaviors, while at the same time, Dr. Hans Asperger came up with the name
of “Autism.”
I have compiled a list of my own, comprised of those who have, or are suspected
of having some form of ASD. My hope is that the negative stigma associated with our
children’s diagnoses would be lifted once and for all and those who are still here would come forward and speak out until our kids are able to.
In no particular order, here they are:
Daryl Hannah, Peter Howson, Luke Jackson, Heather Kuzmich, Virginia Woolf, William Shakespeare, Hans Christian Anderson, Goethe, Isaac Asimov, Craig Nicholls, Alexander Graham Bell, Gary Numan, Tim Page, Dawn Prince-Hughes, Vernon L. Smith, Satoshi Tajiri, Raymond Thompson, Liane Holliday Willey, Michelle Dawson, Temple Grandin, Caiseal Mor, Hikari Oe, Dylan Scott Pierce, Jim Sinclair, Amanda Baggs, Lucy Blackman, Alonzo Clemons, Tony DeBlois, Christopher Knowles, Leslie Lemke, Jonathan Lerman, Jason McElwain, Thristan Mendoza, Tito Mukhopadhyay, Derek Paravicini, Kim Peek, James Henry Pullen, Matt Savage, Birger Sellin, Henriett Seth, Daniel Tammet, Richard Wawro, Stephen Wiltshire, Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft, Harry Truman, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Elvis Presley, Peter the Great, Wilhelm II, Alexander the Great, Isaac Newton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jeremy Bentham, Socrates, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Robin Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Charles Dickinson, Jane Austen, Béla Bartók, Ludwig von Beethoven, Anton Bruckner, Henry Cavendish, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Kaspar Hauser, Oliver Heaviside, Thomas Jefferson, Carl Jung, Franz Kafka, Wasily Kandinsky, H P Lovecraft, Ludwig
II, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Gustav Mahler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Strauss, Nikola Tesla, Henry Thoreau, Alan Turing, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, Matthew Laborteaux, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Isaac Asimov, Hans Asperger, John Denver, Glenn Gould, Jim Henson, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hughes, Andy Kaufman, L S Lowry, Charles Schulz, Andy Warhol, Woody Allen, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, Joseph Erber, Bobby Fischer, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jeff Greenfield. David Helfgott, Garrison Keillor, John Motson, John Nash, Michael Palin, Keanu Reeves, Oliver Sacks, James Taylor, Dezi Carden, Dan Aykroyd, Shannon Bull, Louis IV of France, Catherine the Great, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Peter Tork.
If being diagnosed with autism would put me in such great company, PLEASE, label me
autistic!
Parents of children with autism will invariably face difficult decisions regarding their
children’s best course of treatment. Among the most agonizing of these, is the decision to use prescription
drugs to treat their condition. Against the backdrop of spiraling cases of autism, anti-psychotic medications, once reserved for schizophrenia and other major mental illnesses, are being used more and more to treat autism.
But NewsInferno
recently reports that an emerging study conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine and University of Chicago confirms long held suspicions
– that atypical anti-psychotic medications such as, Seroquel, Abilify, Zyprexa, and Risperdal are
not proven to work and can even lead to serious side effects, including substantial weight gain in the first three months of
use and a much higher incidence of diabetes and heart disease. Involuntary and permanent muscle spasms are also common after prolonged use.
And an article in The New York Times
states that federally financed drug research reveals that children covered by Medicaid are given powerful anti-psychotic medicines at a rate four-times higher than children whose parents have private insurance. Medicaid children are also more likely to receive the drugs for less severe conditions in lieu of individual and family therapy. Anti-psychotics are extremely expensive and Medicaid reimbursement rates are much higher
than traditional therapies.
Every major drug company selling atypical anti-psychotics has settled lawsuits in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Anti-psychotics also garner the single most complaints for false claims. But as anti-psychotics are one of their top grossing category of drugs, pharmaceutical companies obviously consider them well worth it.
When weighing the risks of anti-psychotics for autism versus the benefits, it is difficult to see
the value. And from someone who was lead down the garden path of consenting to a Risperdal trial for my son with autism, my advice is to avoid them altogether.
Standing in stark contrast to anti-psychotics is low-dose naltrexone (LDN). LDN was pioneered by the neurologist Bernard Bihari in the early 1980s, when he was studying medications used for drug and alcohol withdrawal. Naltrexone is an opiate antagonist, which means that it blocks opioid receptors in the brain and thus eliminates the feeling of pleasure caused by the addictive substance.
But Bihari noticed that very small doses of naltrexone (initially 3 mg, a fraction of the normal dose of at least 50 mg) taken at bedtime only blocked the opioid receptors temporarily, which stimulated the body to produce more of its endogenous opioids,
while producing no significant side effects.
The diseases treated with LDN typically involve abnormally low levels of endorphins. Restoration of normal levels of endorphins by LDN have the effect of reducing pain and increasing mood, energy and an individual’s general sense of well-being.
Additionally, studies conducted by Dr. Jaak Panksepp of Washington State
University and Bowling Green State University have found that over half of
children with autism treated with LDN increased their social skills as a result.
Since 1985, low-dose naltrexone has been used “off-label” to treat a range of conditions sharing immunity dysfunction such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome,
fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, AIDS and autism.
LDN is currently not FDA approved because only pharmaceutical companies can afford the
multi-million costs of drug trials, and those companies are not interested in marketing a drug that costs only forty-dollars a month.
Dr. Jacqueline McCandless, famed autism expert, recommends LDN to her patients on the autism spectrum for immune system
modulation as well as social, cognitive, and language enhancement. Non-toxic, non-addictive, non-expensive, LDN can be taken orally or as a transdermal cream. Common side effects are initial sleeplessness and hyperactivity, which can be addressed by taking it just before bed in an already drowsy state or rubbing it into your
child’s skin as they sleep. In a small percentage of cases, children develop cold symptoms when beginning LDN, but
then recover quickly.
At a time when over 7 million children are on Ritalin and psychotropics, and Electroshock Therapy
is being promoted for wider use among youngsters on the spectrum, LDN is a ray of sunshine cutting through dark
clouds of medical treatments for autism.
I’m not impartial on the subject. My son has been using LDN for over a year now. Coupled with diet, supplements, and anti-inflammatory medicine, it
has sent his Crohn´s Disease into remission and markedly improved his symptoms of autism.
His physician, prescribed it for him through a compounding pharmacy.
A Google search will render LDN providers in your area.
In a recent one-on-one interview with CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Bill Gates discussed his foundation’s $10 billion pledge over the next ten years to develop and deliver vaccinations to children worldwide. When the recent Andrew Wakefield scandal was brought up by Dr. Gupta, Gates re-affirmed the charge that Dr. Wakefield used fraudulent data for his 1998 study, mainly due to financial interests in lawsuits at the time. Additionally, Gates went on to say that people who engage in anti-vaccination efforts “kill children.”
While there is no doubt reduced vaccinations levels over the last ten years has led to many preventable diseases and even some deaths, Gates’ statement is a bit misleading.
Most responsible “anti-vaccine people” are not running around discouraging parents from vaccinating their children. And in fact, the term “anti-vaccine” is a
mischaracterization as most people on the other side of the debate are not
advocating for the elimination of vaccines, as Gates implies.
In realty, vaccine awareness groups (a more applicable term) such as Safe Minds and Generation Rescue have been pushing for education and awareness of potential dangers and safety concerns. Furthermore, there has been a strong
effort by these types of organizations to revise the current CDC vaccination schedule, not eliminate it altogether.
Obviously, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is doing significant work in helping to improve the health and safety of children around the world. However, as with most involved in the vaccine-autism
debate, there is typically no middle ground when it comes to this issue. Opposing groups are always convinced that the other side is wrong, leaving very little room for compromise. As a result, sweeping and sensational accusations are made, which include
“anti-vaccine groups kill children” from one side and “pharmaceutical companies poison children” from the other.
It would be nice to see a little more objectivity in this continuing debate. However, don’t expect it from Bill Gates, particularly since he is so heavily vested in the pro-vaccine movement — to the tune of ten-billion dollars.
It should also be worth noting that Gates himself has been suspected to have Asperger’s Syndrome, which would further throw any objectivity out the Windows.
According
to the Washington Post, Electroconvulsive
Therapy Machines (ECT) will soon be required to undergo the same rigorous
testing as other medical equipment currently on the market.A 1974 law mandating the
close scrutiny of new medical devices allowed ECT to be grandfathered in and
escape scrutiny.Now, this momentous
decision will have far-reaching consequences for ECT use in the future,
particularly when it applies to those with autism.
As a treatment for severe depression and other mental disorders, ECT or ¨Shock Treatment,¨
as it is commonly referred to, delivers an electrical current to the brain,
which induces a seizure.This
seizure causes the patient to temporarily lose consciousness.Scientists don’t understand why the clinically-induced seizures relieve
psychiatric symptoms in some patients, though they think it that it is somehow
linked with the brain’s neurotransmitters.
Like chemotherapy, the patient must adhere to a maintenance schedule of further
treatments.
Serious memory loss is a big side-effect of ECT.Others report hallucinations and the inability to engage in creative
activities they once enjoyed.Proponents
describe the therapy as life saving, while others contend it is barbaric and unconscionable,
sending medical science back to the Middle Ages.
ECT has been around for seventy years but recently has been used to treat
children with autism, particularly those who are self-injurious.Apparently, in some cases, incidents of self-harm by these children are
significantly reduced by ECT therapy.
Parents of children who injure themselves most likely turn to ECT treatment as a
last resort and are understandably relieved to see their child’s self
destructive behaviors diminished.However,
no studies have been done on the long-term effects of ECT use on children with
autism, and that remains a major concern.Certainly,
using it in extreme cases should not open the door to more widespread autism
applications.
There are recent speculations that certain types of autism may be the earliest
expression of catatonia and that both disorders have identical risk factors.
Therefore, ECT may improve autism and, if started early enough, may prevent
further development of autistic symptoms in some children.
The study goes on to say that no assessments of the use of ECT in children have
been done since the 1940´s when it was decreed safe and effective for people of
all ages, and the prejudice against it is the biggest obstacle that must be
overcome.
Fortunately, the FDA mandating a complete review of ECT machines will help put
on the brakes on their widespread use before discovering the potential long-term
ramifications.
A federal judge in West Palm Beach, Florida has
finalized a settlement, awarding a mother of a child with autism $427,000
for an incident that took place nearly three years ago, when her son was voted
out of kindergarten by his classmates. In May of 2008, teacher Wendy Portillo
brought Alex Barton to the front of the class and took a vote from his peers
whether or not he should remain in class. The youngster lost 14-2.
As upsetting as this case is, the lawsuit award may be equally as
troubling.
On a daily basis, many children with autism incur bullying, teasing, harassment
or even worse. I can recall multiple incidents over the years where my son with
autism has been made to feel like an outcast and humiliated by the cruel actions
of others, including adults. Does this mean he is entitled to a six-figure
lawsuit settlement as well? Granted, the Barton incident was exceptionally
cruel and insensitive, but did it really warrant a half-million dollar payout,
which will eventually be funded by taxpayer dollars?
While I can sympathize with what the Barton family has endured, I’m afraid this
is another example of just how litigious our society has become. It also sets a
very poor precedent for other parents who will be looking for a payday in the
future when their children are treated in unfair or mean-spirited ways.
Even worse, it sets a poor example for our children on how to
resolve bullying, which will inevitably come their way throughout their lives.
Routines and schedules are the mantra for those with autism and their families.
If fact, they are so important to a child on the spectrum, any change in their daily
habits can cause much anxiety or stress.
A big “change” that is currently affecting a lot of families is related to
the relentless winter weather. And while the thought of a snow day sends neurotypical kids into stratospheric realms of giddiness and glee, children on the
autism spectrum usually have a hard time coping with the breach in their daily
schedules.
So what is a parent to do?
For starters, patience is of the utmost importance. Additionally, here’s a
few ideas, taken from other parents in the snowed-in trenches, that will help
ease the stress of disrupted schedules from the winter weather:
1. Talk about the possibility of school closing before it happens.
As soon as it looks like a bad weather closing is a possibility, begin to talk with your child. Explain that the snow makes it dangerous to drive or walk to school and that its safer to stay home. Use pictures, if necessary, and talk up the fun activities that can be done instead of going to school. When the actual snow day occurs, knowing that
alternative activities exist will most likely keep your child’s anxieties to a minimum.
2. Go out and play in the snow.
For kids with sensory systems that don’t mind the cold temperatures and the
extra layers of clothing, go out and play in the snow (weather permitting). Snow play has an endless list of activities. With fellow neighborhood kids out playing too, social skills can be
practiced and developed as well. Sledding is not only physically challenging
but pulling a sled, while trudging up a snowy hill helps to work on balance and coordination.
This is an OT exercise in disguise! For younger children, practice counting snowballs, then work on gross motor skills by stomping on the snowballs. And who can forget making snow
angels? Make a whole angel family and practice identifying emotions by finger drawing different facial
expressions.
3. If your child prefers to stay indoors, have a special container of new and fun things to do just on snow days.
This special, plastic storage container might include movies, music, books and toys that are used only on bad weather days. You might even include special snacks or
treats as well. Make sure that the container’s items and activities are only used on days when the schedule changes abruptly. And take out only one item at a time to avoid
over-stimulation.
4. If you’re not intimidated by snow on the roads (and the roads are indeed safe to drive on) go out for a
drive.
Drive to the nearest indoor play center . Chances are that the snow has deterred most people and those indoor playgrounds won’t be as crowded.
5. Go along with the theme of the snow day and make snowflakes.
Using coffee filters, create paper snowflakes. Fold them in fourths and cut small shapes from the folds to make snowflakes. Drizzle on glue and sprinkle with glitter for a sparkly effect. Once dry, use scotch tape to hang
on windows and around the room. For more details, visit “Make-a-Flake”
to create virtual snowflakes and save them to the snowflake gallery. You
can also make edible snowflakes by folding flour tortillas in fourths and then
using scissors to cut shapes out of the folds, just like when you cut a paper
snowflake. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar and bake at 350 degrees until crispy.
Sudden changes in a child’s schedule can be difficult, but with a focused effort on communication and a few treats,
the disruption in routine and subsequent day off can turn into a lot of fun for all involved.
Despite the recent proposals by various states to pass or introduce autism
insurance reform, the reality is that most states in the country are still
extremely deficient when it comes to providing autism-related funding and
services. The lawmakers have realized the error of their ways and are now grandstanding
before the media (and everybody else) gets a grip on reality about what has been
going on.
One year ago, I left everything in Washington State, including my home and older children, to move to
upstate New York to get the best possible services for my four-year-old son with
autism. Washington is currently ranked 48th in resources for autism and New York is ranked
fifth. The westernmost accommodating states are Wisconsin and Missouri. The rest are in the
northeast, and include New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Add in a tremendously low cost of living in upstate New York (because of the harsh winters), and you have
one of the best places to live for autism services. Families have been migrating to these
top states for help for the last ten years and thankfully, they are getting it.
In my opinion, Boone County, Pennsylvania, is the number one place to live, hands down. However, the million-dollar Pocono lifestyle and homes are
way out of most families’ budgets. That’s why I came to Onondaga County, New
York, where my son is receiving up to a half-million dollars in therapy and services each year.
Australia and the United Kingdom are way ahead of the US in providing proper
treatment and therapy to all diagnosed persons with autism. Catching up will be
difficult. At the current rate, our Social Security system (and other
government programs) will be bankrupt within seven-to-ten years. The estimates
of the well drying up in 2037 are incorrect, and lawmakers know it.
Don’t get too exciting when reading the latest headlines about autism
"reform" and lofty promises by lawmakers. These rarely trickle down into hands
of a child’s immediate needs. In fact, due to the lack of properly trained
professionals, it will take years to see any meaningful difference.
I spent fourteen months advocating and battling for services in Washington State. This is a
no-tax state, which was part of the problem. After tremendous paperwork, getting advocates
involved, and nasty battles, I ended up with 3 days a week, 2 ½ hour early
intervention sessions with unprepared teachers. As a result, we had minimal results and
non-productive speech. The teacher and speech therapist meant well but lacked the training and
skills needed to be effective. I appreciated their efforts, but the reality was
that my son was not thriving.
The school district did not want to give my child summer school or an ESY (Extended School Year).
This was critical because it’s been proven that without three or more days of a school
program and therapy, a child with autism will show regression. As a result, an
effective autism school and/or early intervention program will be year-round and
not just occur during the regular school year. Study the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act) laws and know them before your first IEP (Individualized Education
Program) meeting, so you are well-informed about these issues.
What Washington gave me in place of not having a summer program, was a self proclaimed
"Autism Therapist." After four sessions into her therapy and personally witnessing her slamming my child into his chair, whiplashing another student, and having zero progress with another, I
pulled my child out. She grabbed my arm forcefully as I was leaving with my family, seething with anger and tried to intimidate me saying, “your child is a hard
one.” A call to CPS should have been made, but I vowed to focus solely on my son’s healing
and not get bogged down in lawsuits or "he-said, she-said"
accusations.
Without a doubt, the best programs in Washington pale in comparison to the worst programs in New York.
If that were not the case, I wouldn’t be foreclosing on a half-million dollar horse farm, recovering from a divorce
or given away most of my things.
My studies and conversations with other parents and personal experiences have led me to the conclusion that the state you are in will
define your child’s future.
As stated, lawmakers are continuing to hash things out, but these changes will
not make an immediate difference when it comes to hands-on therapy. So if your state does
happen to pass laws handing out cash or institute legislative mandates, there is
the secondary issue of finding the properly trained persons to address the
therapies and services that are being funded.
Don’t believe people just because they are in an administrative or authoritative
positions. They are not all bad, but the majority lack the proper knowledge and training. There’s no excuse since the research has been completed and proven.
Your child doesn’t have a lot of time. Moving to a state where resources are available
five days a week through a school system should be strongly considered. You need
to have access to an agency like Enable, who will bring ABA into your home well
after the early intervention period is over.
Forty-percent of non-verbal autistic children will never speak. My son was almost one of them.
This high percentage is directly linked to the lack of trained persons and no access to accommodating
services in the majority of our states..
I cannot explain the joy I felt when two months of New York-style therapy brought out my son’s full speech at
three years old. Now, thanks to the great state of New York and the SPICE program, I can finally hear him tell me and write his likes, dislikes, feeling,
and fears.
Most importantly, he hugs me, kisses me and says, “I love you mommy, I really love you, I love you forever and ever!”
Washington State left my son and I with little hope when I was told, “he’s a hard
one." In only 9 short months, the services provided by New York
caused me to receive daily progress reports and happy handwritten pictures
expressing my son’s love for me.
It’s treasures like these that make moving 3,000 miles away, along with
countless other sacrifices, all worth it in the end.
It was this past August on my son’s fourth birthday when I hooked up his
VTech V.Smile game for the first time.
In the pattern of how I have been teaching him new things, his older brother and I took turns playing while
he eagerly watched on.
After finally getting his chance, his first experience was disastrously adorable and produced
a lot of smiles, but no gaming skills. I have learned not to get stuck on game
rules and focus on the bigger picture.
V.Smile, with a joystick, is a great starting point to the interactive gaming
world for children with autism. Games vary from beginner, like Wubbzy and Winnie
the Pooh, to the more difficult games such as Scooby Doo and Toy Story. It’s
important to have a range of games on-hand with various difficulty levels because once a child grasps the joystick and functions, there’s no telling what he
or she can do.
The V Motion controller is much harder and requires a child’s upper body to
engage (similar to a Wii), instead of just a handheld joystick. We tried this briefly when one of
our controllers broke, but it was just too difficult. As such, the V Motion is
not a good place to start unless your child is accustom to playing a Wii.
Most of the games, including those from Nickelodeon and Disney, can be played on either
format (V Smile or V Motion), but you will need to read each game box carefully. If your budget is tight,
eBay and Half.com are great resources to acquire previously owned games. I have seen
used consoles, with controllers and games included, for under $25.00 (plus shipping).
These games help improve hand-eye and body coordination, which is a great
alternative to having your child aimlessly stimming and staring into the
TV all day.
VTech teaches by using numbers, counting, letters, spelling, shapes, colors, sizes, tracing, matching,
and math. There’s also a hand-held version which can be taken into the car and along to stores.
VTech is also valuable for children with autism because you have the option to
play from one level to the next, or you can choose whatever level is best suited
for your child. There’s also a learning area, and in many cases, a sing-along
option with lyrics. There is a microphone option on many of the consoles, which
adds the dynamic of karaoke.
Since August, my son has learned to correctly spell from Mickey Mouse, learned upper and lower case
letters from Winnie the Pooh, and practiced math with Buzz and Woody, all while
his favorite characters cheer him on.
As usual, the biggest lesson was mine. I will never again make the mistake of underestimating what my son’s hands and brain are capable of.
I highly recommend the VTech V.Smile. Its ease-of-use, simplicity, and diversity
are great for teaching. I encourage parents of moderate-to-low functioning
children with autism to check it out and don’t forget the extra controller so
you can join in on the fun!
Mohammed Usman Chaudhry was a Pakistani-American with high functioning autism whose keen interest in how people survive on the streets led to an encounter with Officer Joseph Cruz and his partner. The officers questioned Chaudhry as he slept beneath the stairs of an apartment house. Cruz maintained that out of nowhere, Chaudhry had attacked him with a knife and he had no recourse but to shoot him.
However, DNA testing of the knife and his partner´s conflicting account failed to support his claim.
The jury unanimously found that Cruz had used excessive force and acted in “a reckless, oppressive or malicious manner.”
The trial put the City of Los Angeles in an embarrassing position. After the Chaudhry death, Cruz had been fired in an unrelated incident for lying in a police report about a prisoner he had allowed to escape. When Cruz tried to get his job back, the city successfully argued that he was not credible and no longer deserved to be a police officer.
Then, during the Chaudhry hearing, City of Los Angeles lawyers were placed in the unenviable position of having to argue to the jury that Cruz was totally truthful about the circumstances of Mohammed´s Chaudhry´s death and no choice but to shoot him.
Not enough police departments have begun training officers in dealing with the burgeoning population of citizens with autism in their midst, and those who have need to go into more depth than the cursory one hour course commonly used.
Interestingly enough, the $1.7 million dollar amount matches the same
number of individuals estimated to be living with an autism spectrum disorder in
the United States. That would mean Chaudhry’s family has been awarded roughly
one dollar for every person with autism in the United States.
It’s unclear if the jury was making a statement, or if the award amount is purely coincidental.
Either way, the court victory shows that municipalities now have 1.7 million reasons to get more training
for their officers so similar incidents are avoided in the future.
Today, the Virginia House of Delegates moved closer towards providing
increased autism coverage for residents of the state. HB 2467 advanced on
a "voice vote," despite opposition by some House members. The
proposed bill would mandate coverage of applied behavior analysis for children
with autism between the ages of two and six, with a max. annual cap of $35,000
per child.
Some complained that the bill doesn’t do nearly enough as the requirements would
apply to state government entities and not to self-insured businesses or businesses with 50 or fewer
employees. A similar bill is moving through the Senate of Virginia.
The actions of the state of Virginia are part of a broader movement nationwide
to increase coverage of services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
Autism Votes, an initiative launched by Autism Speaks, has had a major role in
helping to enact this type of legislation across the country.
While these proposals by individual states are welcomed news, what is needed
even more are sweeping federal changes that will help address the issue of
autism services and insurance. Only then, will we begin to see parity across all
fifty states in relation to services and support. As of now, many states,
including some of the larger ones, are seriously deficient in the types of
services and programs they offer.
Although the bill is not what many wanted to see, at least Virginia is taking a
step in the right direction to increase services for its residents.
