January 31, 2009
I’ve been hearing a lot on internet news lately that there is speculation that being the first-born puts you at higher risk for autism. I’ll need to look up the articles and post them here on my blog. But, I think it’s quite an interesting theory. No other theory has made sense to me personally, and there have been many theories. With every single family I know that has a child with autism, the child with autism is their first-born. Let’s think about this for a while and then I’ll post the actual articles later.
January 30, 2009
Dear Washington Autism Advocate,
The hearing for Shayan’s Law (SB 5203) before the Health and Long Term Care Committee on Wednesday, January 28th, was a great success! Our proponents of the bill presented a solid case with great testimony. Everyone looked great in their red outfits, with their “Support Shayan’s Bill” buttons, and the room was just packed! Thanks to all who came!
We need your help today to reach out to the chair of the committee to call for a vote on Shayan’s Law and to encourage committee members to vote YES in support of the autism insurance reform bill. Shayan’s Law would require insurance companies to provide coverage of up to $50,000 per year for autism treatments and therapies.
These Senators needs to realize that Washington families dealing with the challenges of autism can’t afford to wait another day for treatment. The time is NOW!
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1. CALL THE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE, Senator Karen Keiser today and ask her to schedule Shayan’s Law for a vote in an executive session! Share your personal stories and convey the following message: Autism is a treatable, medical condition. Insurance should cover treatment. Be polite and persistent. Ask her to please schedule the bill for an executive session vote so that it can continue through the legislative process! Dial until you get through!
Senator Karen Keiser - (360) 786-7664
2. CALL THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO ASK FOR THEIR YES VOTE! Call all the members of the committee below and urge them to support Shayan’s Law. Call them once a day until the votes are cast! Advocacy Tip: Put these numbers in your cell phones and then set your alarms to remind you to call every day!
Franklin, Rosa, Vice Chair (360) 786-7656
Pflug, Cheryl (360) 786-7608
Becker, Randi (360) 786-7602
Fairley, Darlene (360) 786-7662
Marr, Chris (360) 786-7610
Murray, Ed (360) 786-7628
Parlette, Linda Evans (360) 786-7622
Prentice, Margarita (360) 786-7616
3. FORWARD THIS ACTION ALERT to anyone you know who lives in Washington State that can help advocate for this important legislation. We need to flood the phone lines. Has anyone ever asked you what they could do to help your family? Ask them to help make these calls!
4. REGISTER AT AUTISM VOTES! It’s quick and easy. You will then receive e-mail alerts any time action needs to be taken in Washington on behalf of autism legislation. Ask your friends, neighbors and family to register at Autism Votes as well. We need thousands of voices if we plan to succeed in our effort to end insurance discrimination against our loved ones with autism.
This is a chance to receive $50,000 in coverage for treatments and therapies for your child every year moving forward. We cannot let that opportunity get away from us today!
For more information on the Washington autism insurance initiative, go to www.AutismVotes.org/Washington.
Warm regards,
Arzu Forough
Chapter Advocacy Chair, Washington
Autism Speaks
January 29, 2009
another excerpt from Autism Speaks
New Administration Puts Autism as a Priority
Autism highlighted on whitehouse.gov
On the newly launched Web site of the Obama Administration, http://www.whitehouse.gov/, the new President has outlined his disabilities agenda, in which autism is the only condition highlighted specifically. The agenda includes:
- Signing on to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Providing better educational opportunities for Americans with disabilities
- Ending discrimination and promoting equal opportunity
- Increasing the employment rate for workers with disabilities
- Supporting independent, community-based living
President Obama and Vice-President Biden also outlined their support for increased funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness and support services; improving life-long services to children and adults; funding the Combating Autism Act, and improving federal and state autism programs; and universal screening of all infants and re-screening of all 2-year-olds. Learn more about screening and early identification.
The Autism Society of America has been working with the transition team and will continue to work with the new Administration to make these priorities a reality for all affected by autism. Stay tuned for action alerts and legislative updates by signing up here.
To show your support for President Obama’s plan, and to read the disabilities agenda in its entirety, please visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/disabilities/.
January 28, 2009
an excerpt from Autism Speaks
Autism Sunday To be held February 8
Cathedrals, churches and religious organizations around the world will observe Autism Sunday, an international day of prayer for those with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, on February 8. Parents, caregivers and people with autism have been asked to inform their church groups around the world and request them to observe Autism Sunday.
Autism Sunday was launched in 2002 by parents and caregivers Ivan and Charika Corea in the United Kingdom, who have a son with autism. A service for autism was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in 2002 to mark the launch of Autism Sunday.
Many autism advocates use Autism Sunday to raise awareness of the serious education and health issues associated with autism. World leaders have been urged to share their “vision for autism” on Autism Sunday and spell out their plans to help parents, caregivers, children and adults with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.
Learn more at the Autism Sunday Web site: http://autismsunday.tripod.com/.
January 27, 2009
Excerpt from article
The bill would increase 2009 fiscal year spending on Title I, a program
of specialized classroom efforts to help educate poor children, to $20
billion from about $14.5 billion, and raise spending on education for
disabled children to $17 billion from $11 billion.
Those increases respond to longtime demands by teachers unions, school
boards and others that Washington fully finance the mandates laid out
for states and districts in the Bush-era No Child Left Behind
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/no_child\
_left_behind_act/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> law, and in the main
federal law regulating special education.
“We’ve been arguing that the federal government hasn’t been
living up to its commitments, but these increases go a substantial way
toward meeting them,” said Joel Packer, a lobbyist for the National
Education Association
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/nat\
ional_education_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org> , the
nation’s largest teachers union.
Link to complete article
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/education/28educ.html?hp
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/education/28educ.html?hp>
January 26, 2009
I hear so often that kids with Aspergers really do not like school. I know my son would rather be schooled at home, or in a robotics studio somewhere. But, he is so young, it’s really hard for me to know how much school impacts him - positive or negative. But, I read blogs like this one:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/posts56291-start15.html
and I wonder if this is how my son will think of school in the future. Since schools are geared towards putting the square peg in the square hole and aren’t geared towards the round peg, people often ask me why I bother sending my son to a mainstream school. I ‘think’ I am doing the right thing. The Aspergers experts tell me that he lacks the social knowledge, not the academic knowledge - that he can learn the academics anywhere but that being in a mainstream classroom will help him learn the social aspects of life.
Well, that seems to make sense. But, how difficult is it for him emotionally to be in school all day long? It’s so hard for me to know. I hear so often of adolescent Aspergers kids being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder due to the abuse, bullying, ridiculing, etc. that they have experienced in school. I don’t want this to happen to my child. But I also want to give him the opportunity to mainstream if he is able. It’s a difficult balance and a difficult decision. I wish there was more information and more experts that knew exactly what to do. I get so much mixed messages that I feel like no one really knows the right answers.
January 25, 2009
Interesting to see what this drums up….
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to further investigate recent reports of seclusion and restraint of children in public and private schools across the country. Miller’s committee plans to hold a hearing on these practices in the coming months.
Earlier this month, the National Disability Rights Network released a report detailing hundreds of cases where abusive uses of seclusion and restraint by school staff injured or traumatized schoolchildren, many with disabilities. The report revealed cases where students were abusively pinned to the floor, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other acts of violence. In some of the cases, children died.
As Miller noted in his letter to GAO today, a prior GAO investigation conducted at Miller’s request uncovered thousands of similar cases of abuse at teen residential treatment facilities across the country. GAO’s work laid the groundwork for legislation to address these abuses, the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (H.R. 6358), which the House passed in June.
“Unfortunately, vulnerable children and teens are being abused all too often in other contexts,” Miller wrote. “To assist in the Committee’s ongoing efforts to help protect our children, I specifically request that FSI investigate the use of restraint, seclusion, and harmful aversive handling of children and youth in private and public schools.”
For more information on the report documenting these abuses, click here. For more information on H.R. 6358, click here.
The full text of Miller’s letter to GAO is below.
***
January 27, 2009
Gene L. Dodaro
Acting Comptroller General
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20548
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
I write to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Forensic Audits and Special Investigations Unit (FSI) further investigate recent reports of neglect and abuse of children in our nation’s schools.
Over the last several years, GAO ably fulfilled my requests that it review and investigate the alarming number of deaths and incidences of abuse of youth enrolled in private residential treatment programs geared toward treating troubled teens. Among other things, the investigative work highlighted cases where staff at some programs employed unsafe restraint techniques that lead to death in some of those cases. In part because of these revelations, the House passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008, H.R. 6358 (110th Congr.) on June 25, 2008.
Unfortunately, vulnerable children and teens are being abused all too often in other contexts. Just this month, the National Disability Rights Network released a troubling report entitled School is Not Supposed to Hurt in which the authors described instances of death and abuse of children and youth in public and private schools across the United States. The report focused on seclusion and restraint techniques and detailed dozens of occurrences of students being abusively pinned to the floor, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other traumatizing acts of violence. In some of the cases, the abuse resulted in death.
To assist in the Committee’s ongoing efforts to help protect our children, I specifically request that FSI investigate the use of restraint, seclusion, and harmful aversive handling of children and youth in private and public schools.
Sincerely,
George Miller
Chairman
cc: Senior Republican Member Howard “Buck” McKeon
January 24, 2009
One might notice that I do not use certain terminology when referring to autism. The autism spectrum is so vast that one form of autism is not necessarily like another. I firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with my son. He doesn’t have a disorder. He does not need to be cured. In fact, I think he is in some ways fortunate to have the brain he has. His brain has a capacity to think and work in ways that mine never will. He is so much more interesting a person than I’ll ever be. And, he has so much more potential for greatness. But, I recognize that not every parent can say the same for their kids with autism. I know what all sides of the spectrum look like - we have several children in the family with autism and they are all very different. Most people with aspergers, however, think there is something wrong with all of us NT people. And quite frankly, sometimes I’d have to agree with them.
But the spectrum and how we choose to define it seems to cause a lot of division within the autism community. It also creates a lot of confusion among the general public about what autism is. I predict some day soon, our understanding of the autism spectrum will become more clear and well defined and we will all be more willing to accept the differences.
January 23, 2009
Even in the UK!
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/julie_henry/blog/2008/11/26/special_needs_children_failed_by_the_system
January 22, 2009
I had a meeting with my son’s school today. It is so inspiring to see the progress that the school has made and is committed to continue to make. Even the smallest of steps, the tiniest accomplishments, the smile on a teacher’s face - these things make it all worthwhile. All of the pain that I experienced in those dark days are all worth it. “God only burdens you with what you can shoulder” is what someone told me during the darkest days. I believe I was chosen for a reason. And I sure hope God continues to use me to spread awareness and create change.
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