Special Ed Costs Hit My CT Town Hard
By Kim Rossi
Ususally our Anne Dachel writes about the weight of special education on school districts. Earlier this month, in my Fairfield County Connecticut town, our Superintendent announced his retirement and then took an immediate leave. We've heard that our Special Education Director is also leaving. Then we found out we have a huge budget deficit. Take a look at this sentence pulled from the article below:
The biggest factor, though, is special education and transportation for students in special education programs, he said.
I believe that "special education” means mostly autism. My own daughter attends a private autism school for her 19 - 21 post graduate years, and is transported some 13 miles away. How long before special education take so high a toll on districts that there is a real backlash? And think of the bedlam post age 21, if schools can not handle the numbers of students, how will the meager offerings of the adult disability world ever provide services? This is the looming pandemic that should be mobilizing the great and mighty global minds. Entire families will be affected by adult children, siblings, aunts, uncles, with autism. Generations. Kim
From CTInsider.com
TRUMBULL — School officials are breathing easier after a week of crunching budget numbers and meeting with numerous town and state officials, according to Interim Superintendent Ralph Iassogna.
“We’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” Iassogna said Wednesday.
At the Jan. 14 Board of Education meeting, Iassogna detailed a series of belt-tightening measures he had implemented in his first five days since replacing retiring Supt. Gary Cialfi. Iassogna had told the board the schools were running a deficit projected at up to $2 million and that he had implemented a spending freeze and a hold on overtime and substitute teacher costs.
“That’s how dire the situation is,” Iassogna told the board. He said he had not been able to pin down exactly how large the deficit is, but it likely would be at least $1.2 million.
“I will candidly tell you that, after five days in the position, we are in a serious situation and have several challenges ahead. There’s no question about that,” he said. Read more at Trumbull schools face ‘dire’ budget situation.
Great points from Bob Moffitt and Lorim!
Escher may also be interested to know, re her opinion that
"The neurological pathologies of autism have origins in the early wiring of the brain, before administration of vaccines."
In actual fact, vaccines are now being administered in utero ( DTP, Influenza) and that there are many examples of onset of autism following brain injury in both children and adults , as in this case for example, of a 31 year old adult.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1991.tb14804.x
The author describes a previously healthy man who contracted herpes encephalitis at the age of 31 years, and over the following months developed all the symptoms considered diagnostic of autism. This case report casts doubt on the notion of autism as an exclusively developmental disorder. It is suggested that temporal lobe damage may cause autism in some cases.
As you can see, the article suggests temporal lobe damage at any age can result in an autism diagnosis...
The CDC, in their list of vaccine table injuries, ( injuries they acknowledge can be caused by vaccines) specifically lists brain damage as a side of effect of vaccines.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/d/injury-table.pdf
From the site;
Vaccines containing whole
cell pertussis bacteria,
extracted or partial cell
pertussis bacteria, or
specific pertussis antigen(s)
(e.g., DTP, DTaP, P, DTPHib)
A. Anaphylaxis
B. Encephalopathy or encephalitis
C. Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine
Administration
D. Vasovagal syncope
<4 hours
<72 hours
<48 hours
<1 hour
III. Vaccines containing
measles, mumps, and
rubella virus or any of its
components (e.g., MMR,
MM, MMRV)
A. Anaphylaxis
B. Encephalopathy or encephalitis
C. Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine
From Web MD, the meanings of Encephalopathy and encephalitis
https://www.webmd.com/brain/what-is-encephalopathy#1
Encephalopathy" means damage or disease that affects the brain.
It’s easy to confuse encephalopathy with encephalitis. The words sound similar, but they are different conditions. In encephalitis, the brain itself is swollen or inflamed. Encephalopathy, on the other hand, refers to the mental state that can happen because of several types of health problems. But encephalitis can cause encephalopathy.
So , the CDC describes encephalitis/encephalopathy due to vaccines as an acknowledged injury. Again, hope this is useful to some.
Posted by: Hera | January 29, 2020 at 03:20 PM
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X20300396?via%3Dihub
they know vaccines cause autism. they just don't care.
Posted by: Beleaguered Autism Mom | January 29, 2020 at 02:47 PM
Hi Escher commentator,
Rather than just quoting Eshers opinion in full, you may find it more useful to others if you point out where her arguments are wrong.
To take one example, she believes the vaccine schedule is stable, but seems unaware that vaccines have and continue to be added, for example in 2004, the influenza vaccine was added starting at 6 months old, or the increasing use of the TDP vaccine in pregnancy.
In 2013, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices published its updated recommendation that a dose of tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) should be administered during each pregnancy, irrespective of the prior history of receiving Tdap.
From this article.
https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Obstetric-Practice/Update-on-Immunization-and-Pregnancy-Tetanus-Diphtheria-and-Pertussis-Vaccination?IsMobileSet=false
The new update states the vaccine can now be given at any time during the pregnancy.
Then their is the interesting fact that the various genetic mutations or variations being identified ( more than 100) probably cover most of the population at this point,..though changes in the MTHFR gene, for example, has been linked with an increased chance of vaccine injury.The MTHFR gene is also linked with autism.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746083/
From the article
Genetic polymorphisms in an enzyme previously associated with adverse reactions to a variety of pharmacologic agents (MTHFR) and an immunological transcription factor (IRF1) were associated with AEs after smallpox vaccination in two independent study samples
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5633227/
Again , from the article.
There is a significant association between severity and occurrence of autism with MTHFR gene polymorphisms C677T and A1298C. Further studies are needed on a larger scale to explore other genes polymorphisms that may be associated with autism to correlate the genetic basis of autism.
I think providing the research allows people to see why you disagree, which can be helpful, imo.
Hope you have a good day, and that these studies are useful to you.
Posted by: hera | January 29, 2020 at 02:22 PM
@ Escher=pathetic
"...one thing is perfectly clear, vaccines do not cause autism"
One could make a very strong argument supporting that position … all one has to do is initiate a scientific, independent study of vaccinated v unvaccinated populations .. to ascertain once and for all .. if BOTH populations have the same frightening 1 in every 35 children being diagnosed autistic .. as well as … both populations also having 54% of children suffering some neurological, biological, physical development problem .. up from 12% in 1986 when vaccines began dramatic climb in our country.
HOW HARD IS THAT TO UNDERSTAND … THEY HAVE THE DATA, THEY HAVE THE EXPERTISE, THEY HAVE THE RESOUCES .. THEY LACK ONLY THE WILL TO DO THIS COMMON SENSE STUDY. WHY IS THAT?????
Posted by: Bob Moffit | January 29, 2020 at 01:26 PM
@Jill Escher
A multitude of epidemiological studies have found no link between vaccines and autism? That is a joke! In order to prove this, they need to take their huge database and compare fully vaccinated to never vaccinated children, which they refuse to do. Del Bigtree thinks it's because they've run the numbers already. And the vaccination schedule has NOT remained stable. It has consistently increased and changed over the last few decades. Vaccines are NOT protective of brain damage. They cause brain encephalitis, seizures, gastrointestinal disease, deaths, most unacknowledged. And autism is not mainly rooted in heritable sperm/egg. Look at the interviews of families who first vaccinated their children, then later children did not. And the parents were older then! Yet the later children unvaccinated were healthier and better developmentally especially if they didn't get aluminum filled vitamin k shots either. And studies show that vaccines upregulate bad genes and downregulate good genes.
Posted by: lorim | January 29, 2020 at 01:08 PM
And then we've got Jill Escher over at the "National Council On Severe Autism" detailing the massive increase in autism. Good so far but in the same blog post she makes sure to tell everyone that vaccines have nothing to do with that fact. Jill, get a clue.
I am all done referring people to that site. Jill and others like her will apparently just keep recommending vaccines and continue to be oh so puzzled why rates continue to sky rocket. Jill and others like her are so blind it is frightening.
From Jill Escher, National Council On Severe Autism:
"And even more terrifying, based on current trends, the onslaught of autism we have already experienced may be a mere prelude to a far more catastrophic future: it is entirely conceivable that before long, fully 5% of American children will be disabled by autism. We certainly cannot cope now, how will we cope then?
Before I close, this must be said: vaccines do not cause autism (please, vaccinate your children)
Americans have been watching with alarm as their families, neighborhoods, and schools have been swept up in autism’s tide. And with no explanation for why their local school districts now have 400 kids with obviously disabling autism, as opposed to just a dozen 30 years ago, they turn to various half-baked theories to try to make sense of it. Part of me can hardly blame them—Americans deserve answers about the roots of the autism epidemic, and science has failed to deliver them.
Tragically, the vaccine hypothesis has rushed in to fill this void. I will not repeat what other commenters have already explained (Wikipedia actually provides a decent summary), but, briefly, science has delivered at least some answers about autism and they solidly refute the idea, for example:
• The neurological pathologies of autism have origins in the early wiring of the brain, before administration of vaccines.
• A multitude of robust epidemiological studies could find no link between vaccines and autism.
• Autism is strongly heritable, that is, rooted in the sperm/egg of the parents (and this may include new glitches, not necessarily any ancestral code).
• Autism rates have continued to climb sharply despite a stable vaccine schedule, removal of thimerosal, and decreasing vaccination rates.
• If anything, vaccines are strongly protective against brain damage that could be caused by childhood infections such as rubella or meningitis.
Yes, we desperately need research that finally pinpoints the causes of autism’s dysregulated brain development, but in the meantime, one thing is clear: vaccines do not cause autism. To responsibly address our nation’s autism emergency we must come out of the scientific closet and openly admit we face a devastating epidemic without fear of emboldening a disproved theory."
Jill Escher is an autism research philanthropist with the Escher Fund for Autism, president of National Council on Severe Autism, a housing provider to adults with autism and developmental disabilities, immediate past president of Autism Society San Francisco Bay Area, and the mother of two children with nonverbal forms of autism.
Posted by: Escher=pathetic | January 29, 2020 at 12:11 PM
@ Aimee
'"I would be more excited about the Autism Cares Act (although I don't like the name, which was changed from the Combating Autism Act a few years back in a nod to the neurodiversity movement) if the money weren't administered through the IACC (Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee)."
I wholeheartedly agree .. perhaps that is why the President didn't have public signing ceremony or even tweet that he had funded the Autism Cares Act .. knowing their complete lack of achievement over decades? Signing and authorizing ANOTHER 1.8 BILLION to continue squandering the money is probably not something he should be proud of doing. Sad ….
Posted by: Bob Moffit | January 29, 2020 at 07:23 AM
If Anne and Kim (and ginger and Katie and Mary and....and......and......are in, I’m perfectly capable of contributing to the uterus monologues
✌️
Posted by: annie | January 28, 2020 at 09:11 PM
I would be more excited about the Autism Cares Act (although I don't like the name, which was changed from the Combating Autism Act a few years back in a nod to the neurodiversity movement) if the money weren't administered through the IACC (Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee).
The IACC is not interested in allocating money for cure or cause, due to the influence of the public members, who tend to be anti-cure activists. The IACC has been around since 2000, during which time autism has increased from 1 in 150 to 1 in 59 (more than double). During that time not one new effective treatment or therapy was found. A survey by Safeminds just over a year ago found widespread dissatisfaction with the IACC.
https://safeminds.org/news/autism-survey-reveals-shortcomings-in-federal-response-to-autism-crisis/
And a GAO report five years earlier on the IACC was extremely critical of its lack of effectiveness. https://www.gao.gov/assets/660/659147.pdf
Given that the IACC costs taxpayers over a million dollars a year to run, I think we should be getting more for our money.
Posted by: Aimee Doyle | January 28, 2020 at 02:17 PM
Lori-my son is 33 and was born in 1986 and that is really when the autism epidemic started. My son's doctor who specializes in autism said it started in the mid 1980s and is really at an epidemic proportion as the numbers have continued to rise astronomically since that time period. Where is the money coming from to support all these people when in my state alone, New York, there is a 6 billion dollar deficit for Medicaid and Medicare. We are in for a dire future unless some researchers from anywhere find a cure for this disastrous, tragic epidemic.
Posted by: Gayle | January 28, 2020 at 12:41 PM
"How long before special education take so high a toll on districts that there is a real backlash?" Long time readers of AOA know there have commenters who have looked into the near future answering that question and none of scenarios is pretty--they are frightening, not only for education but the fabric of society. We are in The 75th anniversary of Auschwitz:
"In other words, there is a very real human tendency to mis-remember the grave evils of history: to imagine that they happened in a different world; to think that those who perpetuated such evil, or those who scandalously remained silent and complicit, were somehow different kinds of people than we are."
That quote was from this article, https://breakpoint.org/the-problem-with-misremembering-the-holocaust/?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DPMQPo60z-O0n0-6u4U3_bEr8IjrJ1VbhB-ZYQZ71hQP2Vn3VJGnFsBLaX49pPggcafedBcYmbkQQHi4keFsH688hmg&_hsmi=82466370
Posted by: michael | January 28, 2020 at 11:28 AM
There’s always the padded cells public schools are fond of. My daughter is 26, right at the beginning of the epidemic. Once puberty hit she was bad enough to be excluded from public school. Three different schools until age 22. One great, one awesome, one horrible.
Posted by: Lori Stella | January 28, 2020 at 08:08 AM
We are in a very dire situation when the the funding for autism will exceed the billions allocated to fund our national defense. Funding for autism services for adults with autism should be a number one priority for our country's future as the numbers of adults with autism will continue to rise and overwhelm the system. We, the families, are in a very perilous situation if we do not have enough money to support our adult children with autism. Here in New York we have a 6 billion dollar budget deficit for both Medicare and Medicaid. What does the future hold for us?
Posted by: Gayle | January 28, 2020 at 08:03 AM
President Donald Trump signed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act (CARES) into law Monday, which allocates $1.8 billion in funding over the next five years to help people with autism spectrum disorder and their families.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trump-signs-18-billion-autism-cares-act/story?id=66002425&fbclid=IwAR2PN9yXJODkpTp3YJfJB69kqAC6nmlFDBmSjq3LCTEq3iwSxKhA60qBVIg
Recent Del Bigtree "Highwire" show featured a prominent "economic" expert who issued a dire warning on the rising costs of funding autism in coming years .. according to this expert … funding for autism will EXCEED the BILLIONS ALLOCATED TO FUND OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE … MAKING AUTISM FUNDING THE TOP PRIORITY IN OUR NATION'S FUTURE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
I wish this expert's comments were available in PRINT allowing them to be distributed far and wide.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | January 28, 2020 at 07:32 AM