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Dachel Media Update: Clinton Garners Attention for Autism Plan But do Families Approve?

Online newsBy Anne Dachel

This Jan 10, 2016 story from CNN is a very concerning preview of the politics of autism.  In Autism: Can other candidates match Hillary Clinton's plan? Professor David Perry discussed various reactions to Clinton's autism proposals, which he called, "the most detailed policy document on autism in U.S. presidential election history."

(Considering that autism--a disorder with no known cause or cure--is now at such horrific numbers, one in every 45 children, one in every 28 boys, the candidates can expect that the subject will come up and they'll be asked what they intend to do about it.)

Perry described Clinton's plan as "informed and friendly to the autistic community." 

Perry praised the fact that Clinton didn't use "stigmatizing words such as 'cure' or 'epidemic.'" 

According to Perry, Clinton is the first to modernize our image of autism with an emphasis on "rights, services and supports."  He asked what the other candidates were going to do about autism, and he was especially interested in Clinton's emphasis on adults.  (The assumption here is that there's a comparable rate of autism among adults, we just haven't made an effort to look for them yet.)

"We still have no idea how many adults have autism, whether undiagnosed or, even worse, misdiagnosed and poorly treated."

And Perry believes that it's important to find the adult cohort because "the undercounting lends credence to the fearmongering about an epidemic of autism today. Yes, rates are higher now, but that's because we're better at counting. Clinton's plan seems to get that distinction."

So will Clinton be at all interested in the cause of something affecting a million children in the U.S.?  Will she call for research on regressive autism?  Will she look for classic autism among adults, whose symptoms are easily recognized?  Will she acknowledge the huge controvesy over vaccines and call for a vaxxed/unvaxxed study? 

One advocate cited by Perry is opposed to even looking at a genetic cause for autism.  Jessica Wright feels that this will lead to eugenics.  She was quoted saying, 'Autism is not a disease, a brain cannot be prevented...'

Obviously the pressure is on Clinton and the other candidates to play it safe in dealing with autism.  Quite possibly, if elected, Clinton could push to normalize autism even more in the American psyche.  Even calling autism a disability is questioned by the neurodiversity crowd. 

Parents struggling to care for severely disabled children on the spectrum, desperate about what will happen to their kids as adults, will be marginalized into oblivion.  The public will be shown the Asperger's end of the spectrum and be told this is autism.  It would be quite easy to convince everyone that autism has always been around, we just called it something else.  (And as far as those on the severe end, they were formerly called mentally retarded and locked away in institutions. Case closed.) 

This underserviced, but significant population deserves our attention.  We can no longer cater to those people who want to waste time and limited resources looking for the cause.  We're neglected these people for too long.

What I can't figure out is how Perry and all the people he cited here are going to explain the huge cost of supporting these disabled children as adults.  IF autism has always been here, albeit undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, what did we do with them as adults?  We would have had to provide for them, especially those on the severe end, even if we didn't called their condition "autism."  So where are the nursing homes and adult group homes filled with folks on the spectrum?  I can't wait for Clinton (or whoever wins the presidential election) to go looking for them. 

For possible reactions to the whole idea of having a plan for autism, consider some of the comments on the CNN story.  While some called autism a brain disorder that severely limits individuals, others have bought into the claims of better diagnosing/expanded spectrum.

...We no longer send citizens with disabilities off to moldy institutions to waste away.  They stay with families and are integrated into society to whatever capacity can be achieved. ...

...We should be looking for ways to be more accepting for those on the Autism Spectrum and their rights, until proven otherwise, should not be infringed upon. ...

...Not long ago, many children with non-life-threatening disabilities were shuttled off to institutions where they were cared for with varying levels of expertise until they died.  Now the vast majority go home with their families with substantial, though sub-optimal, support systems to ensure the best possible outcome.  There is no reason to believe that this pattern will change in the foreseeable future, thus we need to make better plans for these children, many of whom may outlive their parents. ...

...Great, more handouts!  Why does it always come down to other people's money for Democrats!
The Federal Government spends too much money, the last thing we need is more spending!  Autism is not a Federal issue, it is an issue for individuals and private charities....

 "Autism is a dumping ground for explaining to parents why their child can’t socialize or do well in school.  We keep this making up new diagnoses for behaviors, everyone is going to have a

Anne Dachel Book CoverAnne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism and author of  The Big Autism Cover-Up: How and Why the Media Is Lying to the American Public, which is on sale now from Skyhorse Publishing.

 

Comments

Barry Stern

Why has no presidential candidate thus far mentioned the whistleblower that provided Congress with a thousand pages of evidence indicating corruption, illegal manipulation of data and lying at the highest levels of the Center for Disease Control? I can understand candidate reluctance to bring it up since it would probably hurt their campaigns given the mainstream media’s stranglehold on public opinion. CNN, FOX, MSNBC and most of the major outlets get 70% of their advertising revenue from the pharmaceutical industry. Like Watergate’s whistleblower from the FBI suggested to news reporters Woodward and Bernstein, “Follow the money and you will understand who and why.” Hopefully, before the end of this campaign some presidential candidate (perhaps several to ensure their physical safety) will tell the truth about this sordid corruption in our government.

For those who believe vaccine safety is “settled science”, please know that the vast majority of studies reporting this were conducted by the pharmaceutical companies themselves. And they often cook the books. For example, a couple of Merck scientists admitted they manipulated data in order bury the very real correlation between their MMR vaccine and autism. Dr. William Thompson, the CDC whistleblower, admitted that he and his superiors covered up the strong relationship between MMR vaccinations and the rate of autism in African-American boys in Georgia by eliminating from the sample kids who were not born in the state. As if this malfeasance were not enough, medical industry claims are simply false that there are studies to prove the safety of giving infants the number of vaccines they get today (36). No such study exists.

And if the outright collusion between Big Pharma and Big Media were not enough(how could the mainstream media survive without pharma advertising?), how about the role of Big Ag/Big Food in generating dollars for the Medical and Insurance industries by making and keeping us sick? Their monoculture farming and GMO crops depletes the soil of nutrients that people need in their food to remain healthy. Factory farms give us hormone- ,antibiotic- and pesticide-laced beef, pork and chicken that pollute our soil, water and air to say nothing of our bodies. And guess which companies send their top executives to spend a few years working in the U.S. Dept of Agriculture? When are presidential candidates going to bring up these issues as they tour Iowa? Who has the guts to reveal to the American people this outright corruption?

Jeff

When will regressive autism be given a separate diagnosis? Children who regressed in to autism after developing normally should have their very own spectrum. I am tired of telling someone that my Daughter is autistic and them saying, yeah my kids autistic too, and my neighbor the accountant is autistic, and the mailman, and the cable guy, I wanna tell them GFY, sorry.

@Willie

Doesn't look like Hillary's big autism plan is convincing anyone. I think she's toast politically. Too many people are realizing what's been done by pharma and the Democrats have been the worst offenders. Don't piss off the parents!

Benedetta

Margaret
Exactly!

Terrifying Exactly!

Margaret

I find it interesting that the oft used mantra of "nothing about us without us" so popular in some Aspie circles somehow never trickles down to the parents doing all the heavy lifting. 1 in 45, even if most of them are on the mild end, which I doubt, is not sustainable economically. Keep asking where the money is going to come from, and where the heck we will find enough caretakers.

Bayareamom

"I do not approve her plan, because it fails to address the most important issue - the proven link between vaccinations and autism. The single most important method of autism prevention is avoidance of all vaccinations. Clintons program is friendly mostly for pharma-medical cartels and banksters, but certainly not for parents, children and entire American society. It is a program of preserving status quo and increasing profits for medical-pharma industrial complex."


That says it all, right there.

Greg
The social model of disability teaches us that the challenges faced by autistic people do not emerge from flaws in the autistic person themselves, but from a society that is ill-equipped to provide the supports that autistic people need.

This absurdity, taken to it's logical extension would have us believe that an autistic, nonverbal, mentally retarded child, and suffering from constant seizures, SIBs and meltdowns, problems are not due from his autism. It's rather a matter of society not providing the appropriate behavioral and medical care.

One wonders if the purveyors of such nonsense would also suggest that a paraplegic mute is perfectly fine, and only needs to be properly cared for.

Doug Troutman

The vaccine program was part of Hillary care. She helped cause this disaster.

Willie

VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM

So who exactly is David Perry and what are the professor's academic credentials, what does he know about autism if anything, what is his experience in dealing with autistic children and families, Why is he even interested in autism and what is his relationship to Hillary Clinton and how is he chosen to ascertain what program is best for autistic children and their families?

David appears to be about 30 something it is unknown if he has any children or if he knows anyone afflicted with autism.

His educational background from his university web site is as follows;

"David Perry has been an assistant professor of history at Dominican University since the fall of 2007. He is a specialist in medieval Mediterranean history, with a particular focus on Venice and the Crusades. Both his teaching and his scholarship examine cross-cultural contact and conflict in the medieval and early modern Mediterranean world. At Dominican, his classes focus on cultural exchange and production, medieval religion in all its permutations, economic activity, and daily life. He is also an active participant in the seminar program.


Professor Perry thank you for your interest in autism.

I would ask that you please keep your ideas about what we need to yourself. If you must be involved ask us what we think we need to help our children and families.

Ask us who we think can best help us rather than dictating to us what we need based on your politically motivated and clearly absurd suppositions.

David Perry you do not know what we need , we know what we need.

With regard to your comments referring to "stigmatizing words such as 'cure' or 'epidemic.' I am not certain where you were when the lights went out(high school maybe?) and this dark evil cloud fell on our children and over our families however we use those words because they are accurate and there is no stigma in truth, just truth.

You should probably go back and consult your dictionary as it is clear that you do not know what the word stigma means- shame disgrace dishonor- that does not exist in truth and we are not in anyone's closet we love our children and we want them cured and well and that is it.

To be absolutely clear-The way we see it, this is an epidemic in our view, and yes it is caused by vaccines and we want a F---ing cure for this plague YESTERDAY.

Nothing less will do no matter what political ideation you posses or proselytize or whom has set you on your misguided approach to derail our efforts to cure our children and heal our families. We will continue undaunted until we have succeeded and no amateur professors playing doctor like yourself or Mrs. Clinton will deter us and it really is that simple.

As an aside Hillary Clinton is the mother of the modern autism epidemic having increased the vaccine schedule and forcing children of all ages to be vaccinated with no scientific proof of their efficacy. She actually bragged about increasing the number of vaccinations for children- look it up.

Further it was her and her husband Bill Clinton and HHS director Donna Shalala that started the forced AIDS drugs feeding of minority infants in orphanages around the United States.

With friends like that ....

Thanks but no thanks Professor your talents are best suited to the medieval times as you cannot hurt dead people.

VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM

JerseyGuy

I'll only note that David Perry isn't himself autistic, and he apparently doesn't have an autistic child (or at least doesn't mention one), but someone appointed him a spokesman for the autistic community.

no-vac

I do not approve her plan, because it fails to address the most important issue - the proven link between vaccinations and autism. The single most important method of autism prevention is avoidance of all vaccinations. Clintons program is friendly mostly for pharma-medical cartels and banksters, but certainly not for parents, children and entire American society. It is a program of preserving status quo and increasing profits for medical-pharma industrial complex.

Annie

I believe we have had insurance companies since the year I was born (1971). Isn't there a way to see what said companies were covering back then? In a backward and extremely unfortunate way I believe we should "follow the money", on the question of whether or not this degree of autism was around forty years ago.

Thank You So Much Anne, for all you do!!!

It is bitter sweet that now autism is an issue that presidential candidates can not ignore.

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