Baltimore (MD) Star Democrat

"The annual summary of students in Maryland public schools shows the number classified as special education students again slipped a bit. When counted for 2012-2013, the total had come down to 102,575 - down from 102,621 the previous year."

"At the same time, the number of students identified as autistic has gone through a noticeable growth. One explanation sometimes given is that more students are diagnosed with autism as a result of an increased awareness of the disability.

"The summary shows there were 2,304 autistic students identified in 1999. By 2012, the statewide total rose to 9,798."

I think they have the wrong headline here. It makes no sense to emphasize this slight drop in overall special ed students, while mentioning the stunning increase in autism as merely "a noticeable growth."

This is really frightening growth for autism and yet, we're mollified with the phrase, ""increased awareness of the disorder." How aware are we going to get when it comes to autism?

There are more than four times the number of autistic students that there were in 1999. What is this "increased awareness" costing the taxpayers in Maryland?

I would like to ask a veteran special ed teacher in MD about what's happening.

KPLC-TV, Lake Charles, LA

Reporter: The Heurtevant family in Sulphur know the challenges of raising a child with a disability. They say those challenges will only get worse if the governor's vetoes remain."

"It's not what his parents, Marc and Kristi, would have hope for, but it's something they say, they wouldn't change."

Dad: "He's a wonderful boy, wouldn't change him. .He's a blessing."

Mother: "Of course, his way of acting out is through aggression, whether he pinches, pulls hair, bites, hits his head on the wall."

This came out on a on the same day the Chicago Tribune KPLC-TV, Lake Charles, LA  put out a story where a dad said, "It's OK" that my son "one in 88."

I would love for these parents to consider what their children will be like at twenty. What if the boy in Louisiana is still pinching, pulling hair, and hitting his head on the wall?

What if the boy in Chicago is still having "a screaming fit at Denny's for no apparent reason."
I feel helpless that we've come to this. I can't begin to post a comment. No one see anything wrong with children like this. Why would they? Doctors aren't alarmed, Officials see no problem with all the autism. The press reminds us daily that autism is a mystery, it's genetic, and it's all just better diagnosing.

The bottom line is: no one cares if your child can't speak and overwhelms you emotionally and financially. That's just what happens with autism. When this generation of disabled children reaches adulthood, will the taxpayers be willing to shoulder the cost of caring for them for the rest of their lives?
 
 NY Daily News

"An international study of six different IVF methods found risks associated with intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a technique to remedy male infertility, but experts emphasized the risks are very small."
 
Of course it's only an association, not a cause.  It's only a "small risk" and could hardly explain what's happening to children everywhere.  It does make it look like experts are trying to figure out the mystery of autism, after all, it was "an international study."  Actually, it's busywork intended to cover up the autism epidemic.