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Dachel Media Review: Aging and Autism

Online newsBy Anne Dachel

Read Anne's comments after the jump.

Sept 20, 2013, Henrico Citizen (Henrico County, VA): Faison autism residence to break ground next week at Henrico site

Sept 19, 2013, Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME: Childhood vaccines reverse disease inroads

Sept 18, 2013, ABC6 Knoxville, TN: Young adults with autism less likely to have jobs, live independently

 
Henrico Citizen (Henrico County, VA)

"The Faison Centers of Excellence will break ground Sept. 26 on The Faison Residence, a new state-of the-art residential community in Henrico's Near West End tailored to meet the challenges of young adults with autism."
 
"Officials believe that the facility will be a leading model in providing special needs care and treatment for the world's burgeoning autism population."
 
There was no place for comments here or I would have asked just how many places like this will be required in the coming years.
Why don't we need places "tailored to meet the challenges" of middle-aged and elderly adults with autism?
 
What really got my attention was the very last sentence where we're told about "the world's burgeoning autism population."
 
If it were anything else---blindness, deafness, or any other disability, wouldn't we want to know WHY IT WAS HAPPENING? When it comes to autism, we don't ask why. We seem to accept that autism is here to stay.
 
Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME
 
"As the number of vaccines grew, however, so did parental concerns about them, including cost, access and safety. And as more parents delayed immunizations or refused them altogether, the incidence of preventable diseases rose. ...
 
"Moreover, a certain percentage of parents still distrust the vaccines, fearing they are linked to autism or could cause illness. Reviews of the evidence by the Centers for Disease Control and other reputable institutions, however, have found no such links."
 
The "reputable" CDC runs the vaccine program.  What else would they say?  I posted comments.
 
ABC6 Knoxville, TN:

"The studies detailed the fates of a national sample of 20-somethings who had received special-education services in high school.

"The first study focused on employment. Researchers found that only about half of those with autism had ever held a job since high school, and only about a third were currently working.
"Even worse, young adults on the autism spectrum were less likely to be getting a paycheck than people the same age who had other kinds of disabilities. More than 80 percent of those with speech and language difficulties reported having at least one job, for example, while 62 percent of those with intellectual disabilities had ever been employed."

Paul Shattuck is mentioned here and he's a big part of the problem since he's said numerous times that all the autism is nothing new--it's just a new name for disabled people who've always been here. Let's put him in charge then. He can show us where all the autistic adults are today---albeit, labeled as something else. He sees "success stories" here. I don't. I see a social and economic nightmare approaching. Maybe that's just my negative spin on this.

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