tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28914348128426197902024-03-18T05:53:14.434-07:00Autism Policy and PoliticsI have written a book on the politics of autism policy. Building on this research, this blog offers insights, analysis, and facts about recent events. If you have advice, tips, or comments, please get in touch with me at jpitney@cmc.eduUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5518125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-74825498215222279032024-03-18T05:52:00.000-07:002024-03-18T05:52:30.834-07:00Underemployment<div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/01/employment-profiles.html">discuss</a> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/04/service-needs.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">employment</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/12/kludgeocracy-and-employment.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">adults</a> with </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/04/sanders-on-disability.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> and other developmental disabilities.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110">Davies, J., Romualdez, A. M., Pellicano, E., & Remington, A. (2024). Career progression for autistic people: A scoping review. Autism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241236110</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Lay abstract:</div><blockquote>Lots of autistic people are unemployed. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/autistic-perspectives-on-employment.html">Even when they are employed</a>, autistic people might be given fewer opportunities than non-autistic people to progress in their careers. For example, assumptions about autistic people’s differences in social communication might mean they are not given as many promotions. Indeed, we know that many autistic people are in jobs lower than their abilities (known as ‘underemployment’). We reviewed 33 studies that tell us something about career progression for autistic people. Our review found that lots of autistic people want to progress in their careers, but there are many barriers in their way. For example,<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/06/the-predicament-of-disclosure.html"> when they told their employer about being autistic</a>, some people were given fewer opportunities. Research has also shown that autistic people do not get enough support to progress and that gaps in their employment history can make it difficult to progress. Our review suggested that good employment support (e.g. mentors) might help autistic people to progress in their careers. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/12/employment-and-autistic-adults-need-for.html">However, not much research has evaluated employment support for autistic people</a>, which means we do not know how useful it is. Future research should find the best support that allows autistic people to live and work in ways that are meaningful to them.</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>From the article:</div><blockquote>Our review suggests that, while many autistic people desire career progression, they are often underemployed, ‘stuck’ in poorly matched job roles and receive few opportunities and little support to progress in their careers. Several studies included in this review attempted to quantify underemployment in their samples, with estimates suggesting up to 46% of autistic people may be employed in jobs below their capability and/or capacity (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr12-13623613241236110">Baldwin et al., 2014</a>). Our findings suggest that such underemployment may be exacerbated by external agencies (e.g. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/12/kludgeocracy-and-employment.html">disability employment providers</a>) who are motivated to place autistic people in the first job that arises, as opposed to the job that is the most appropriate fit to the individual’s preferences, skills and abilities (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr17-13623613241236110">Berman, 2022</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr87-13623613241236110">Ortiz, 2018</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr93-13623613241236110">Raymaker et al., 2023</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr102-13623613241236110">Sharpe et al., 2022</a>). This underutilisation of autistic talent is problematic for several reasons. First, underemployment has negative implications for people’s mental and physical health, and the impact of underemployment on mental health is thought to be more pronounced for disabled people (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr1-13623613241236110">Allan et al., 2022</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr43-13623613241236110">Friedland & Price, 2003</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr74-13623613241236110">Milner et al., 2017</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr75-13623613241236110">Milner & Lamontagne, 2017</a>). This is particularly alarming given that autistic people are already considered more vulnerable to poor health outcomes (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr26-13623613241236110">Cashin et al., 2016</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr31-13623613241236110">Croen et al., 2015</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr65-13623613241236110">Lai et al., 2019</a>). Second, underemployment comes at a significant economic cost to individuals, organisations and society more broadly (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr14-13623613241236110">Barnichon & Zylberberg, 2019</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr69-13623613241236110">Lloyd-Cape, 2020</a>). As such, reducing underemployment for autistic people should be considered a key target outcome for future research and practice. To address the issue of underemployment, we must understand its underlying causes. The findings of this review provide important insight into the possible barriers to, and facilitators of, appropriate employment and career progression for autistic people. Next, we map the identified barriers and facilitators on to the three key competencies outlined by <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr6-13623613241236110">Arthur and colleagues (1995</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613241236110#bibr7-13623613241236110">2017</a>).</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-33327714705962457642024-03-17T07:12:00.000-07:002024-03-17T07:19:24.626-07:00RFK Running Mate?<div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> And <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/shutdown-protests-and-antivaxxers.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">among</a> those <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/more-on-antivaxxers-and-shutdown.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases</a> could be <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/antivaxxers-and-covid.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID-19</a>.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/01/antivax-bailout.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Antivaxxers</a> are sometimes <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/12/antivaxxers-get-worse.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">violent</a>, often <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/06/facebook-has-failed-to-act-against.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">abusive</a>, and always <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/12/antivaxxers-and-dunning-kruger-effect.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">wrong</a>. </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/jbs-and-rfk-jr.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">A leading anti-vaxxer</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/rfk-jr-officially-announces.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">presidential candidate</a> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/tucker-carlson-hosts-rfk-jr.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">. </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/01/rfk-jr-and-anne-frank.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">He</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> has repeatedly </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/04/more-on-rfk-jr-and-holocaust-reference.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">compared</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> vaccine mandates to the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/04/rfk-jr-on-holocaust.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">Holocaust</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">. <i>Rolling Stone</i> and</span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2011/01/more-on-salon-retraction.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> Salon</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> retracted an RFK article linking </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2010/11/origins-of-anti-anti-vaccine-crusader.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines to autism</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">.</span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/desantis-says-hed-take-antivax-votes.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">He is now running </a>for <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/rfk-jr-will-hurt-trump.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">president</a> as an <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/rfk-jr-may-go-third-party.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">independen</a>t. According to press reports, <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/exclusive-robert-f-kennedy-jr-expected-to-tap-nicole-shanahan-as-running-mate/">his running mate will a person named Nicole Shanahan</a>.</div></div><div><br /></div>Last month, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/us/politics/nicole-shanahan-rfk-super-bowl-ad.html">Rebecca Davis O’Brien reported at NYT:</a><br /><blockquote>Super Bowl ads cost a fortune. So when a group backing the presidential bid of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/11/us/politics/rfk-jr-super-bowl-ad.html">Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran a 30-second ad for him</a> during Sunday night’s game, the political world took notice.<br /><br />How had the super PAC of a long-shot independent candidate paid for such a costly spot, and whose idea was it to adapt a vintage John F. Kennedy ad for his nephew’s campaign?<div><br /></div>A major source of the funding — and the creative guidance — it turns out, was Nicole Shanahan, a lawyer, entrepreneur and Democratic donor who was once married to the Google co-founder Sergey Brin.<div><br /></div>...<div><br /></div>“It seems like a great opportunity to highlight that he’s running for president,” Ms. Shanahan said. She said part of her motivation was concern about the environment, vaccines and children’s health, and her belief that Mr. Kennedy was willing to challenge the scientific establishment.<br /><br />“I do wonder about vaccine injuries,” she said, although she clarified that she is “not an anti-vaxxer,” but wanted more screening of risks for vaccinations. “I think there needs to be a space to have these conversations.”</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-88261695418664563942024-03-16T07:03:00.000-07:002024-03-16T07:03:00.037-07:00Autistic Comedians<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #2452ff; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I discuss <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/03/autism-portrayals.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">depictions</a> of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/autism-on-disney-channel.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">ASD</a> in</span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2011/11/autism-popular-culture-and-stereotypes.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;"> popular culture</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. </span><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/mar/16/autism-comedy-superpower-fern-brady-pierre-novellie-joe-wells-charlie-george">Rachel Aroesti at <i>The Guardian</i>:</a><div><blockquote>In fact, autism seems to be significantly overrepresented among professional standups. (It is estimated – perhaps conservatively – that about 1% of the world’s population are autistic.) Earlier this year, the Scottish comic Fern Brady won the inaugural Nero nonfiction award for her memoir Strong Female Character, a chronicle of the struggles that led to her autism diagnosis. Hannah Gadsby, who rose to fame with the multi-award-winning 2017 show Nanette, also received a diagnosis of autism as an adult, while other comedians who have said they are autistic include Jim Jefferies and Bethany Black, alongside a clutch of up-and-coming standups who discuss their diagnosis in their work (Larry Dean, Ashley Storrie).</blockquote><blockquote>...<br /><br /> Autism is not the only form of neurodivergence that is prevalent in standup according to [Pierre] Novellie; he says he knows many comedians with ADHD. However, he and Wells both believe some autistic traits are especially useful when it comes to creating and performing live comedy. In order to finesse a routine, the standup must tell the same jokes over and over again, which means “you need to be obsessive and enjoy repeating things”, says Novellie (intense interests and repetitive behaviour are common autistic traits). Joke-writing itself is also a more scientific enterprise than it might appear. Wells describes it as a “systemising way of writing: you can rearrange a sentence and then it will be funnier. Many autistic brains are more suited to that sort of problem-solving.”</blockquote><blockquote>...<br /><br /> One conclusion Novellie came to is that “a lot of being autistic seems to be to do with excess sensitivity. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/11/is-jerry-seinfeld-autistic.html">And that is always a boon when it comes to observing for observational comedy</a>.” He believes autistic comedians are often noticing the same things as neurotypical people, only more so, leading to “this fun little ‘Oh yeah – that is what it’s like!’ moment for people because [most of the time] they’re busy being not hypersensitive to their environment.”</blockquote></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-66652514187224520862024-03-15T13:52:00.000-07:002024-03-15T13:52:01.633-07:00Origins of the Neurodiversity Concept<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442249608/The-Politics-of-Autism-Navigating-The-Contested-Spectrum" style="color: #2452ff; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/06/shadow-minister.html" style="color: #2452ff; text-decoration-line: none;">discuss</a> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/02/neurodiversity-and-cure.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">neurodiversity</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/12/ai-and-asd.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">movement</a>.</span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-next-civil-rights-movement-accepting-adults-with-autism/2015/07/20/e7c6743e-f338-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span></p><p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613241237871"> Botha, M., Chapman, R., Giwa Onaiwu, M., Kapp, S. K., Stannard Ashley, A., & Walker, N. (2024). The neurodiversity concept was developed collectively: An overdue correction on the origins of neurodiversity theory. Autism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241237871</a>. Lay abstract:</p><p></p><blockquote>This letter discusses the origins of the concept and theory of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/01/huntsville.html">neurodiversity</a>. It is important to correctly attribute concept and theories to the people who developed them. For some time, the concept of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/not-either-or.html">neurodiversity</a> has primarily been attributed to one person, Judy Singer. We consider the available evidence and show that the concept and theory in fact has multiple origins. We draw particular attention to recent archival findings that show the concept of ‘neurological diversity’ was being used years earlier than previously thought. ‘<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/07/puzzle-piece-infinity-symbol-rainbow.html">Neurodiversity</a>’ means the same thing as ‘neurological diversity’ and does not change the theory in any way. We conclude that both the concept of neurological diversity or <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/tv-report-on-illinois-neurodiversity.html">neurodiversity</a>, and the body of theory surrounding it, should be understood as having been collectively developed by neurodivergent people.</blockquote><p>From the article:</p><blockquote>Against this backdrop, we wish to draw particular attention to a recent and important archival discovery from <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613241237871#bibr10-13623613241237871">Martijn Dekker (2023)</a>. Dekker is the founder of Independent Living, the email list on which these ideas were developed (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613241237871#bibr6-13623613241237871">Chamak & Bonniau, 2013</a>). Dekker has recently begun to carefully review his extensive archives from Independent Living, and has discovered clear evidence that the neurological diversity concept was fully formed in 1996, before either Singer or Blume were involved. (Dekker obtained permission from those involved in the discussion to be able to publish it.) In this 1996 discussion (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613241237871#bibr10-13623613241237871">Dekker, 2023</a>), one poster, Tony Langdon, writes of the ‘neurological diversity of people. i.e. the atypical among a society provide the different perspectives needed to generate new ideas and advances, whether they be technological, cultural, artistic or otherwise’. In response to a reply from another poster (longtime autistic advocate Phil Schwarz, who endorses the idea), Langdon adds that ‘a lot of this “curing” needs to be applied to society at large’ rather than to autistic individuals. Here, we see a 1996 community discussion where the concept is already developed and being used.</blockquote><br /><br /> <p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-51100260073988638922024-03-14T08:25:00.000-07:002024-03-14T08:25:16.572-07:00NBC Report on CARD and Private Equity<div><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442249615/The-Politics-of-Autism-Navigating-The-Contested-Spectrum" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism </a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">includes an <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/02/oklahoma-autism-doesnt-end-with-school.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">extensive</a> discussion of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/07/aba-provider-advocacy-group.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autism service providers</a>. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/06/critical-view-of-aba-and-private-equity.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">Private equity</a> firms now <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/03/private-equity-investment-in-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">own many of them</a>. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2018/04/blackstone-acquires-card.html">After its purchase by Blackstone</a>, the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/07/card-developments.html">Center for Autism and Related Disorders</a> went bankrupt.</span></div><div><br /></div><a href="Gretchen Morgenson">At NBC, Gretchen Morgenson reports</a>: <blockquote><div>Many of the companies swarming the autism services industry are backed by <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/retracted-article-on-private-equity.html">private-equity firms</a>. These entities use borrowed money to buy companies they hope to sell quickly for more than they paid. The industry has taken over a vast array of health care businesses in recent years, even as research has shown that patient care declines at some entities run by private-equity firms. A recent <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/patients-private-equity-hospitals-more-infections-falls-jama-study-rcna130956">study</a> by academics at Harvard University and the University of Chicago, for example, found that patients at hospitals owned by private-equity firms experienced far more infections and falls. And on March 5, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Health and Human Services announced an <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/03/federal-trade-commission-department-justice-department-health-human-services-launch-cross-government">inquiry</a> into private equity and other corporate takeovers of healthcare entities to understand how the transactions might “increase consolidation and generate profits for firms while threatening patients’ health, workers’ safety, quality of care, and affordable health care for patients and taxpayers.”</div><div><br /></div>Among buyouts of autism services companies from 2017 to 2022, 85% were done by private-equity firms, according to Rosemary Batt, a professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. With Eileen Appelbaum, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Batt co-wrote a <a href="https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/research/batt-research-shows-private-equity-profiting-autism-services">study</a>: “Pocketing Money for Special Needs Kids: Private Equity in Autism Services.” The research estimates that some 135 private-equity firms invested in for-profit companies providing ABA therapy. Because these companies are private, it is difficult to determine the total market share the firms control in autism services, but the top 12 private-equity-backed companies employed 30,000 people and controlled almost 1,300 locations nationwide, Batt and Appelbaum found.<div>...</div><div>For ongoing CARD customers, things seem to be improving. The company’s founder, Doreen <a href="https://www.doreengranpeesheh.com/about/">Granpeesheh</a>, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/07/doreen-granpeesheh-gets-card-back.html">bought back most of its operations last Augus</a>t. A psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst, she told NBC News she’s dedicated to reviving the company’s services. </div></blockquote><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VhYoGkmjcFg?si=RqmgU__nSSA7h12o" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-57964343738220985472024-03-13T06:37:00.000-07:002024-03-13T06:37:18.152-07:00Deputy Fatally Shoots Autistic Teen<div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442249615/The-Politics-of-Autism" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I discuss <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/01/yet-another-police-encounter-goes-south.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">interactions</a> between <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/05/self-advocates-and-police-training-new.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">police </a>and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/03/report-on-policing.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people</a>. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/los-angeles-sheriff-training-about.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">When cops</a> encounter <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/criminal-justice-and-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people</a>, they may not respond in the same way as NT people, and things can <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/01/an-incident-in-kodiak.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">get out of hand</a>. Among other things, they<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/training-nypd.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> may misinterpret</a> autistic behavior as aggressive or defiant, and respond with tasers, batons, chokeholds, or worse. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/12/a-police-program-in-east-haven.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">Training could help</a>.</span></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-12/fatal-police-shooting-of-autistic-teen-raises-concerns-about-police-response-to-mental-health-issues">Hannah Fry at LAT:</a><br /><blockquote> Ryan Gainer, a teen with autism, was a cross-country runner who worked out his frustrations with six-mile runs and dreamed of becoming an engineer.<br /><br />On Saturday afternoon, the 15-year-old became upset that his parents had demanded he complete his household chores before he would be allowed to play video games or listen to music on his computer, according to DeWitt Lacy, a civil rights attorney representing Ryan’s family.<br /><br />“He got upset. Any teen would be upset by that,” Lacy said. Some people with autism experience more heightened emotions and on that day Ryan responded by breaking glass on the front door, Lacy said.<br /><br />A family member called 911 for help, asking dispatch to send deputies to “take him in” because he was breaking glass and hitting his sister, according to a portion of the call released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.<br /><br />But instead a responding deputy fatally shot the teen, saying he had threatened the deputy with a garden tool.</blockquote><p> </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a_hdjqoyjkQ?si=_x-R2FeCqWXTNQez" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-65792262247262911292024-03-12T07:48:00.000-07:002024-03-12T07:48:44.183-07:00Biden Budget on Disabilities<p> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> In </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1150c9; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I write about </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/services-for-preschoolers.html" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1150c9; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">special education</a><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> and the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/idea-litigation-patterns.html" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1150c9; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</a><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/budget_fy2025.pdf">From the FY 2025 Budget:</a></p><p></p><blockquote>To support high-quality special education services for over seven million
Pre-K through 12 students with disabilities, the
Budget provides $14.4 billion for <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/medicaid-and-idea.html">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act </a>(IDEA) <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/speaker-johnson-and-disabilities.html">StateGrants</a>, a $200 million increase over the 2023 enacted level. Since 2021, the Administration has
secured a $1.3 billion, or 10-percent increase in
annual funding for the program as well as an
additional $2.6 billion in American Rescue Plan
funds to help students with disabilities recover
from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Budget also
invests $545 million in IDEA Grants for Infants
and Families to provide early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities.
To address nationwide special educator shortages, the Budget also invests $125 million, which
is $10 million above the 2023 enacted level, in
grants to prepare special education and early intervention personnel—addressing another <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/special-education-shortage.html">critical educator shortage area</a>.</blockquote><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-21085190837511443692024-03-11T05:54:00.000-07:002024-03-11T05:54:34.123-07:00Trump Hates People with Disabilities<div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I discuss <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/06/jeb-bush-and-developmental-disabilities.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">the issue's</a> role in <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/autism-and-presidential-politics.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">presidential campaigns</a>. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/05/autistic-man-v-trump.html" style="color: #2452ff; text-decoration-line: none;">In this campaign</a>, a <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/10/trump-supporter-no-vaccines.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">number</a> of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/05/emken-and-trump.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">posts</a> have discussed <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/03/trump-and-disability-issues-sad.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">Trump</a>'s <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/02/trump-autism-disability.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">support</a> for <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/autism-and-presidential-campaign.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">the discredited notion</a> that <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/10/more-on-trump-and-antivax.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a> cause <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/autism-and-presidential-politics.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a>. He <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/11/disability-and-2016-election.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">also </a>has a <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/03/trump-and-disability-issues-sad.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">bad record</a> on <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/02/trump-autism-disability.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">disability issues</a> more <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/11/autism-moms-weigh-in-on-campaign.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">generally</a>.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/03/donald-trump-mocks-joe-bidens-stutter/677708/">John Hendrickson at <i>The Atlantic</i></a>:<br /><blockquote>Former president Donald Trump, perhaps threatened by President Joe Biden’s well-received State of the Union address, mocked his opponent’s lifelong <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/02/rural-urban-differences.html">stutter</a> at a rally in Georgia yesterday. “Wasn’t it—didn’t it bring us together?” Trump <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5109610/president-trump-mocks-stuttering">asked</a> sarcastically. He kept the bit going, slipping into a Biden caricature. “‘I’m gonna bring the country tuh-tuh-tuh-together,’” Trump said, straining and narrowing his mouth for comedic effect.<br /><br />Trump has made a new habit of this. “‘He’s a threat to d-d-democracy,’” Trump said in his vaudeville Biden character at a January rally in Iowa. That jibe was also a response to a big Biden speech—one tied to the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. (Guess who the<i> he</i> was in that sentence.)</blockquote><blockquote>...<br /><br /> Stuttering is one of many disabilities to have entered Trump’s crosshairs. In 2015, he infamously made fun of a New York Times reporter’s disabled upper-body movements. Three years later, as president, when planning a White House event for military veterans, he asked his staff not to include amputees wounded in combat, saying, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/">“Nobody wants to see that.”</a> Stuttering is a neurological disorder that affects roughly 3 million Americans. Biden has stuttered since childhood. He has worked to manage his disfluent speech for decades, but, contrary to the story he tells about his life, he has never fully “beat” it.</blockquote><p><a href="Trump has denied using the R-word as a slur. That’s another provable lie, or as James Comey might say: Lordy, there are tapes. In April 2004, he told shock jock Howard Stern: “But you know, I was criticized in one magazine, where the writer was retarded and said, ‘Donald Trump put up seven million dollars.’” A few months later, he started to use the word again but cut himself off: “I have a golf pro who’s mentally ret—I mean he’s like, really not a smart guy.” Several sources told The Daily Beast that he repeatedly used the term against Marlee Matlin, the Oscar-winning deaf actress who competed on his show, “Celebrity Apprentice.">A few years ago, I wrote</a>:</p><blockquote>He displayed that attitude long before he became president. As his niece Mary Trump recounts in her new book, “Too Much and Never Enough,” Trump cut off his nephew’s medical coverage after he challenged the will of family patriarch Fred Trump. The nephew had a baby son with a severe neurological disorder. A reporter for the <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/trumps-bitter-battle-nephew-ailing-baby-caught-middle-article-1.888562">New York Daily News</a> asked Trump how he felt about coldly stopping health insurance for a disabled infant. “I can’t help that. It’s cold when someone sues my father.” The nephew and his wife eventually settled with Trump. Their son now lives with <a href="https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Trump-family-gives-back-to-agency-that-helps-4590816.php">cerebral palsy</a>.</blockquote><blockquote>Barbara Res, who ran construction at the Trump Organization, recalled Trump talking to an architect in a Trump Tower elevator. He asked the architect about the raised dots next to the floor numbers. When the architect explained that they were Braille, Trump shouted, “Get rid of the (expletive) braille. <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-trump-and-his-flunkies-20180911-story.html">No blind people</a> are going to live in Trump Tower.’</blockquote><blockquote>...<br /><br /> Trump has denied using the R-word as a slur. That’s another provable lie, or as James Comey might say: Lordy, there are tapes. In <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/405349-resurfaced-video-shows-trump-using-retarded-despite-denial">April 2004</a>, he told shock jock Howard Stern: “But you know, I was criticized in one magazine, where the writer was retarded and said, ‘Donald Trump put up seven million dollars.’” A few months later, he started to use the word again but <a href="https://twitter.com/RiegerReport/status/1037352518899183616?s=20">cut himself off</a>: “I have a golf pro who’s mentally ret—I mean he’s like, really not a smart guy.” Several sources told <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-called-deaf-apprentice-marlee-matlin-retarded-three-staffers-say">The Daily Beast</a> that he repeatedly used the term against Marlee Matlin, the Oscar-winning deaf actress who competed on his show, “Celebrity Apprentice.</blockquote><br /><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-2241444043817230702024-03-10T07:15:00.000-07:002024-03-10T07:21:58.705-07:00Study of Parent Perspectives<p><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">In</span><i style="line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">, I write:</span></span></p><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">The most basic questions trigger angry arguments. For instance, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/05/autism-politics-is-like-faculty.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">into what category do we put autism in the first place?</a> In 2013, President Obama said that “we’re still unable to cure diseases like Alzheimer's or autism or fully reverse the effects of a stroke.” The language of “disease” and “cure” offends some in the autism community. “We don’t view autism as a disease to be cured and we don’t think we need fixing,” says Ari Ne’eman of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. “We do feel comfortable with the word disability because we understand what it means.” From this perspective, autism is difference that requires accommodation, not an illness that requires eradication. Adherents of this position liken autism to homosexuality, which psychiatrists once deemed to be a disorder. Conversely, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/asf-lobbyist-argues-for-profound-autism.html">some parents take offense</a> at opposition to a cure. “Anyone with the mental and verbal ability to challenge autism research is not autistic on a scale that I care to recognize,” writes autism parent James Terminello. “Opposition to finding a cure is particularly hurtful to parents who still mourn the loss of the child that could have been. A line has been crossed.”</blockquote><p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613231213431"> Asbury, K., Toseeb, U., & Barrow, N. (2024). What do parents of nonverbal and minimally verbal autistic children think about genomic autism research? Autism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231213431</a></p><p>Lay abstract:</p><p></p><blockquote><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/09/pausing-study-of-autism-genetics.html">In Summer 2021, a genomic study of autism, Spectrum 10 K, was paused due to backlash from the autistic and autism communities</a>. This raised important questions about <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/09/controversy-over-dna-study.html">how these communities perceive genomic research</a>. The Personal Experiences of Autism and Perceptions of DNA-based research study was established to address this issue among a range of sub-groups within these communities. Twenty parents of nonverbal or minimally verbal autistic children took part in the current study. Data were provided in diverse formats including online interviews, telephone interviews, and writing. This approach was co-produced with autistic experts by experience and involved a parent of a minimally verbal autistic child. Data were analysed using reflexive Thematic Analysis. We found that participants were supportive of autism research, including some genomic research, as long as it is designed to support autistic people and is ethical and transparent. However, while some believed that polygenic scores, genomic predictors of the statistical probability of being autistic, would be helpful, others argued that this would only be true in an ideal world and that the world is too far from ideal. Participants felt excluded from the autistic and autism communities and that the dominant voices in those communities do not represent them or their children. We concluded that genomic researchers need to work with the autistic and autism communities to design future work, and that it is important to ensure a representative range of voices are heard.</blockquote><p>From the study:</p><blockquote>Participants expressed a view that their children’s experiences are meaningfully different to those of the most vocal members of the autistic community and that this makes them feel their children are unheard in discussions that affect them, including discussions about genomic autism research. This belief was often coupled with the idea that because their children do not have a voice – in the sense that their speech is absent or very limited – they, as parents, need to be that voice, even with the risk that they may not represent the children exactly as they would choose to be represented.<br /><br />Participants used <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/profound-autism-and-prevalance.html">the language of severity and function level</a>, while acknowledging that <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/12/profound-autism.html">such language</a> is unpopular within the autistic community. P6 said: ‘not everybody gets the good type of autism, the high-functioning autism’. While several participants were at pains to be clear that they did not wish to minimise the experience of others, most felt that their children faced significantly more challenges than those individuals whom they saw speaking for the autistic community on social media and elsewhere. Because they saw their children as different from the dominant autistic voice, as they perceived it, participants felt their experiences were rarely taken into account, and this exacerbated feelings of isolation. ‘It sometimes feels that the voices of high-functioning autistic people are angry and strident and do not take into account whatever their non-verbal peers may think or feel’ (P2). P15 related this specifically to the activism that took place around the launch of Spectrum 10 K:<br /><blockquote>And, so for those people that are really severely affected I think basically those people kicking off kind of robbed a portion of the autistic community of that chance, to have that research done . . . I just think it was short-sighted and selfish. That is kind of quite strong, but that is my opinion.</blockquote></blockquote><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-52049114693275035742024-03-09T06:49:00.000-08:002024-03-09T06:49:40.379-08:00Autism Research: British Perspectives<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">In</span><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><i style="font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609/" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">, I write:</span></p><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">As long as government funds so much research, politics will shape the questions that scientists ask and determine <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/01/summarizing-what-we-know-about-treatment.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">the kinds of research</a> that receive funding. Politics will even influence which scientists the policymakers will believe and which findings will guide public policy. In the end, science cannot tell us what kinds of outcomes we should want. ABA “works” in the sense that it helps some autistic people become more like their typically developing peers. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/05/autism-politics-is-like-faculty.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;"> Most parents</a> regard such an outcome as desirable, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/09/autism-discussion-shifts-from-cure.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">but not all people on the spectrum agree</a>. </blockquote><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/08/research-autism-evolving-transforming-lives-social-communication-therapy-drugs-trials"> Amelia Hill at <i>The Guardian</i>:</a></p><p></p><blockquote>Dr Grainne McAlonan, a clinical professor of translational neuroscience at the department of forensic and neurodevelopmental sciences and Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, has just started investigating a psychedelic compound – psilocybin – found in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/14/magic-mushroom-use-grows-in-england-and-wales-ons-figures-show">magic mushrooms</a>.<br /><br />She is looking at the serotonin pathway, which plays a key role in a range of essential functions such as sensory processing, cognition, mood and sleep. One of the most consistent findings in autism research are differences in the serotonin pathway: more than 25% of autistic people have high blood serotonin levels.<br /><br />If McAlonan identifies individual differences in the brain serotonin system targeted by psilocybin, the next step will be to ask whether they can establish if there is a biological response to the drug that might be clinically useful. “Ultimately, this research may allow us to provide more personalised choices for those autistic people who want the option of a medication for their difficulties,” she said<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">.</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"></span><p></p><blockquote>This was an exciting time for autism research, said Matthew Swindells, an evidence, research and evaluation manager at the National Autistic Society.<br /><br />He points to other research that addresses real-life issues, including the <a href="https://www.thebridgingproject.co.uk/">Bridging Project</a> led by the University of Plymouth, which uses <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/12/using-vr-to-raise-autism-awareness.html">virtual reality</a> to reduce the autism employment gap; <a href="https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/people-and-projects/grants-awarded/autism-affinity-spaces-interest-driven-social">autism in affinity spaces</a>, led by Queen Mary University London, which explores how young autistic people use <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/autism-blogs.html">social media platforms</a> to engage in their interests; and<a href="https://www.adaptlab.net/audit-50"> Audit 50</a>, led by University College London, which focuses on the experiences of older autistic people, an often overlooked population.<br /><br />Swindells said: “Perhaps, most importantly, researchers have moved away from stigmatising, deficit-based language and approaches. Instead, it has started to focus on the topics that really matter to autistic people. This can be seen with the emergence of more autistic lead researchers, as well as some brilliant examples of participatory approaches within research practice.”</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-70007875227546580842024-03-07T05:48:00.000-08:002024-03-07T05:48:30.855-08:00Different by Design and Psalm 139<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-health-of-autistic-adults.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people </a>and their <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/areva-martin-and-public-nuisance-case.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">families</a>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">A <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/03/autistic-filmmaker.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">number</a> of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/02/christian-online-film-festival-winner.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">posts</a> have <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/11/the-popes-address-on-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">discussed</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/10/the-pope-v-eugenics.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">religion</a> -- a <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/11/the-pope-and-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">source </a>both of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/04/carrying-cross.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">strength</a> and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/01/bizarre-rants-on-autism-and-demons.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">difficulty</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/new-book-teaches-children-those-disabilities-different-design-loved-god">Christine Rousselle at Fox:</a><div><blockquote> In honor of her son Isaac and all others with special needs, [Monica] Mangiacapra <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/lifestyle/lifestyle-books">wrote the book</a> "Different by Design." The scripturally based picture book helps explain disabilities to children. <br /><br />She was inspired in part by her own experiences, she said. After their son's birth, Mangiacapra and her husband were suddenly thrust into the world of parenting a child with special needs. <br /><br />...<br /><br />It was Psalm 139, she said, that would become the backbone of her book. <br /><br />Even before she left the hospital, Mangiacapra began to look for "a book with scripture, but also related to disability" that was not trying to push any other sort of ideological agenda, and was not focused only on physical differences. <br /><br />The message of the book is that "we are all different, just as God designed," even if those differences are a disability. <br /><br />The book features illustrations that "represent as many visible and invisible disabilities," she said, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/health/education/autism">including autism</a> and communication disorders.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>...</p><p>The new book "Different by Design" is available on Amazon or at Mangiacapra's website, "A Joyful Advocate."</p></blockquote><p></p><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/01/infinite.html">My son Joshua Pitney made an award-winning short film about autism acceptance -- also with Psalm 139 at the core (see at 4:00 into the film):</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T85hh2Rowpo" title="Infinite" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Psalm 139:13-15 (NIV)</div><div><br /></div><div><div>For you created my inmost being;</div><div> you knit me together in my mother’s womb.</div><div>I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;</div><div> your works are wonderful,</div><div> I know that full well.</div><div>My frame was not hidden from you</div><div> when I was made in the secret place,</div><div> when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-91158743985953893012024-03-06T06:07:00.000-08:002024-03-06T06:07:42.454-08:00Measles and Polio: Back to the Future<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> Examples include <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/vaccines-and-social-amplification-of.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">measles</a>, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/06/covid-and-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID</a>,<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/06/autism-antivax-and-influenza.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> flu</a>, and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/04/antivax-ideology.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">polio</a>.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-03-05/trump-and-robert-f-kennedy-jr-measles-polio" style="font-size: 13.2px;">Michael Hiltzik at LAT:</a></p><div><a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-03-05/trump-and-robert-f-kennedy-jr-measles-polio"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 18px;"></span></a><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 18px;">W</span>e’ve already seen that the embrace of pernicious anti-vaccination claptrap by <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-02-22/column-the-science-of-fighting-disinformation">unscrupulous politicians and government officials</a> has had detectable impacts on public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now reporting 41 cases of measles, for which a vaccine has been available since 1963, in 16 states.<br />...<br />At a campaign rally in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 2, [Trump] said this, referring to the policy he would implement as president: “I will not give one penny to any school that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGgpKBQQ_sw&t=4135s">has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate</a>.”</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>...</p>Now let’s turn to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose campaign for president has allowed his dangerous anti-vaccine hogwash to be <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-06-19/column-robert-f-kennedy-jr-is-not-only-a-threat-to-your-health-but-a-threat-to-our-democracy">mainstreamed into the body politic</a> like an IV drip of strychnine. His pitch so bristles with disinformation and pseudoscience that it’s been disavowed by virtually his entire family, whose name has been synonymous with progressive politics and policy for generations.<br /><br />Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization Kennedy founded and chairs, last week <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/dissolving-illusions-lies-cover-ups-vaccines-cola/">platformed a fatuously inaccurate 2013 book</a> claiming that polio isn’t caused by a virus and that the polio vaccine “doesn’t work.”<br /><br />The book was <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/wrong-about-polio-a-review-of-suzanne-humphries-md-and-roman-bystrianyks-dissolving-illusions-part-1-the-short-version/">conclusively debunked long ago</a>. But last Tuesday, the organization published an interview with its co-author Suzanne Humphries, in which she repeated her claim that polio is caused by toxins, not the virus.<br /><br />“According to Humphries, there are no worthwhile vaccines, not even smallpox or tetanus, and certainly not the polio vaccine,” the interview read.</blockquote></div><p><a href="https://www.statnews.com/2024/03/06/florida-measles-outbreak-scact-details/">Helen Branswell at STAT:</a></p><blockquote>On Sunday, public health officials in two Michigan counties warned their residents that they may have been exposed to measles. <a href="https://www.waynecounty.com/departments/hhvs/public-health.aspx">In Wayne County</a>, an adult who had contracted the virus abroad had been in health-related settings in Dearborn on two days last week — two urgent care clinics, a CVS pharmacy, and a hospital emergency department. Health officials in neighboring Washtenaw County issued a <a href="https://www.washtenaw.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2669">similar alert</a> about a different case — also an adult, also infected abroad — who was in the emergency department of a hospital in Ypsilanti on March 1.<br /><br />Both counties urged unvaccinated people who had been in the listed locations at the listed times to contact public health or their health care provider, warning them to phone ahead if they needed to seek in-person care.<br /><br />These kinds of notices are standard public health practice during measles outbreaks. Alerts of this sort may also warn that someone with measles had been in a crowded public location — an airport, a shopping mall, a theme park.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/measles-redux-in-florida.html">But in Florida,</a> where 10 residents and at least <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/02/29/orlando-health-confirms-4-measles-cases-but-theres-no-local-spread-state-officials-say/">four non-residents</a> have been diagnosed with measles in the past month or so, the Department of Health has released scant information about those cases. The seeming reticence to speak openly about measles leaves in the dark anyone in the public who might be concerned about whether they may have had an exposure. Likewise, people considering spring break vacations to Florida who want to avoid measles exposures have almost no information on which to plan their trips.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-70905945929204877462024-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:002024-03-05T20:44:57.738-08:00Strengthening Coordination of Autism Research and Support Services<blockquote><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/05/autism-what-are-we-spending-money-on.html" style="color: #2452ff; text-decoration-line: none;">Uncertainty</a> and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/06/waivers-variability-and-complexity.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">complexity</a> are major themes of </span><i style="font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">.</span></p><blockquote>Political scientist Steven M. Teles has coined a term that comes in handy for any discussion of autism services: kludgeocracy. In computing, a “kludge” is a system consisting of ill- matched elements or parts made for other applications. Engineers patch it together and hook it up to an existing system in order to solve a new problem. Kludges are complicated, hard to understand, and subject to crashes. Teles says that this description fits much of American public policy: “From the mind-numbing complexity of the health care system … our Byzantine system of funding higher education, and our bewildering federal-state system of governing everything from the welfare state to environmental regulation, America has chosen more indirect and incoherent policy mechanisms than any comparable country.</blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106446">US Government Accountability Office<br />Autism Research and Support Services:<br />Federal Interagency Coordination and Monitoring Efforts Could Be Further Strengthened<br />GAO-24-106446<br />Published: Feb 28, 2024. Publicly Released: Feb 28, 2024.</a><br /><br /><blockquote>The National Institutes of Health (NIH), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), plays a key role in supporting the coordination of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/06/disability-employment-in-federal.html">autism activities </a>across 18 federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and Education. For example, NIH manages the Interagency Autism Coordination Committee (IACC), a federal advisory committee composed of federal agencies and public members, through its Office of National Autism Coordination.<br /><br />GAO found that NIH, in support of the IACC and the National Autism Coordinator, generally followed six of eight key collaboration practices that <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/08/gao-report-on-federal-autism-activities.html">GAO's prior work has shown can be effective in enhancing and sustaining interagency collaborative efforts among federal entities</a>. For example, NIH has taken steps to bridge organizational cultures by convening meetings of the IACC.</blockquote></blockquote><p class="h-Fig-Table_Title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: "Lato Web", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6816px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 0.594px; line-height: 1.6785rem; word-spacing: 0.594px;">Assessment of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Role in Supporting Coordination of Federal Autism Activities Compared with Leading Practices for Interagency Coordination</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: "Lato Web", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6816px; letter-spacing: 0.594px; line-height: 1.6785rem; word-spacing: 0.594px;"><img alt="Assessment of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Role in Supporting Coordination of Federal Autism Activities Compared with Leading Practices for Interagency Coordination" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="86e0a514-1ef1-4267-b536-1912b7bf0f74" src="https://www.gao.gov/assets/extracts/d104d45d652333ca5a19ac32a1f987d0/rId14_image2.png" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></p><blockquote>GAO found NIH efforts to support interagency coordination partially followed the remaining two collaboration practices, including ensuring accountability. For example, although IACC strategic plans describe high-level progress made toward autism activities, they generally have not described how progress made relates to goals. NIH officials stated their progress tracking approach is driven by established processes, some of which are required by law. Establishing a clear process for tracking progress would help to determine progress toward IACC's goals and that interagency efforts are effective.<br /><br />NIH helps ensure federally funded autism activities are not unnecessarily duplicative through various activities, such as holding meetings and through data and information reviews. However, GAO found the processes used by NIH's Office of National Autism Coordination were not documented. For example, NIH does not have written procedures describing the steps these staff should follow when reviewing federal autism research information for potential duplication. Although NIH officials stated that they believe current monitoring processes are sufficient, documenting these procedures will help ensure they are properly designed and executed to provide reasonable assurance that duplication is not occurring.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-21329063692065860762024-03-03T05:17:00.000-08:002024-03-03T05:17:31.681-08:00Prison and Autism<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442249615/The-Politics-of-Autism" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/08/autism-and-juvenile-justice.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">discuss</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/12/update-on-neli-latson.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">interactions</a> between the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/05/self-advocates-and-police-training-new.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">justice system </a>and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/03/report-on-policing.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people</a>.</span></p><p><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/prisoners-developmental-disabilities-face-unique-challenges-facility-offering-107752143">At AP, Claudia Lauer reports on the Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution at Albion:</a></p><blockquote>There is no comprehensive count of how many <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/matthew-rushin.html">prisoners</a> in the U.S. have autism or intellectual disabilities, though some studies estimate <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Fazio/publication/261872792_An_estimate_of_the_prevalence_of_autism-spectrum_disorders_in_an_incarcerated_population/links/0a85e535b311b9f416000000/An-estimate-of-the-prevalence-of-autism-spectrum-disorders-in-an-incarcerated-population.pdf">more than 4% are autistic</a> and almost 25% reported having cognitive impairments, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics — nearly twice the rate of each in the overall population. Many advocates believe the number could be much higher because of underdiagnosis before prison or because of ineffectual or nonexistent screening at some <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/12/civil-rights-disabilities-and-school-to.html">corrections departments</a>.<br /><br />The Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit, located roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside of Erie, Pennsylvania, was started about three years ago and is the only facility of its kind in the state. The unit houses about 45 men — a small population that helps staff focus on individual treatment and limits some of the sensory stimulation of prison, Soliwoda said.<br /><br />There’s an exercise yard not accessible by the prison’s general population, and prisoners stay in the unit to receive their medication and see specialized treatment staff. They can check out puzzles, yoga mats or drawing supplies to help them cope in overwhelming moments. One prisoner spends hours every day juggling in the common area to help calm his mind — something that wouldn’t be allowed in most units.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>...</p><p> The unit at Albion requires corrections officers to undergo regular training on de-escalation and crisis intervention to maintain a secure environment while offering accommodations. In Indiana, where there isn’t a specialized developmental disability unit, Nick Stellema, the state's <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/workplace-accommodations.html">Americans with Disabilities Act </a>coordinator, has helped corrections staff with tools to communicate with nonverbal autistic prisoners.</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p> Stellema and other advocates are wary of segregating prisoners with disabilities, noting that the ADA is meant to ensure people can integrate with others, even in detention.</p><p>“In the free world, these individuals have to interact with everyone, not just with other people with disabilities,” he said. “I think the whole system would benefit from a better understanding of what an accommodation can be.”</p><p>But other advocates say separating prisoners with these disabilities is the best option.</p><p>“One of the biggest things we hear is they are acting up and getting themselves put in solitary, and that is even more devastating for them,” said Brian Kelmar, president and founder of the nonprofit organization Decriminalize Developmental Disabilities. “What we’ve seen is, after solitary, the ways they have learned to interact all reverse. They regress from all gains they’ve made.”</p><p></p><p></p></blockquote><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-30350960588591674862024-03-02T06:42:00.000-08:002024-03-02T06:42:58.094-08:00College and Autism<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/07/program-for-autistic-students-at.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">discuss</a> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/08/autism-and-higher-education.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">growing number</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> of </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/life-after-high-school-in-texas.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">college students</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> on the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/nonverbal-autistic-man-to-graduate-from.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/a-student-reflects.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">spectrum</a>. </span></p><p><a href="https://www.limaohio.com/features/lifestyle/2024/03/01/autism-diagnoses-are-soaring-how-some-colleges-are-responding/">Colleen Schrappen at the <i>St. Louis Post-Dispatch</i>:</a></p><blockquote>After high school, the legal framework around disability changes. Adult students are covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination but has no metrics for individual progress. The onus to articulate needs and ask for assistance shifts from the school to the student.<br /><br />Higher education has been inching toward inclusion, advocates say, but there is a long way to go. And the measures taken — like classroom modifications or informational campaigns — are mostly voluntary.<br /><br />“Colleges have been slow to catch on,” said Lee Burnette Williams of the <a href="https://collegeautismnetwork.org/">College Autism Network</a>, a national advocacy and research nonprofit.<br /><br />“It feels like those students have just fallen off a cliff of support,” said Burnette Williams. “What inevitably happens is they don’t succeed.”<br /><br />Almost all campuses have an <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/supporting-autistic-college-students.html">office that provides resources</a> to students with documented disabilities, but comprehensive <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/transition-planning-and-college.html">support programs for autism</a> are rare. The first one, at <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/09/ruth-christ-sullivan-rip.html">Marshall University</a> in West Virginia, opened in 2002.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote> Today, there are about 100 such programs, according to the College Autism Network.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/autistic-college-students-social.html"> The transition to college is a jolt </a>for almost any 18-year-old. No one checks to make sure you are studying, or even attending class. Sleeping and eating habits fluctuate. The guardrails of childhood are gone.</blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Autistic students often also struggle with isolation, unpredictable schedules and an increased emphasis on grades, experts say.</p></blockquote><p>Failure is not inevitable. H<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">ere is an example of a video in which an autistic person (my son) describes his experiences. </span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-7905403841478222962" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 816px;"><p></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F3gYv67i9Yo?si=B7Uej5ac_LVKgIrM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div class="post-footer" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); color: #646464; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 10.8px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 20px -2px 0px; padding: 5px 10px;"><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"><span class="post-author vcard" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1em;"></span><span class="post-timestamp" style="margin-left: -1em; margin-right: 1em;">on <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/01/overcoming-stereotypes-with.html" rel="bookmark" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" itemprop="datePublished" style="border: none;" title="2024-01-28T06:11:00-08:00">January 28, 2024</abbr></a> </span><span class="post-comment-link" style="margin-right: 1em;"></span><span class="post-icons" style="margin-right: 1em;"><span class="item-action"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=2891434812842619790&postID=7905403841478222962" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Email Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" height="13" src="https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_email.gif" style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: none !important; border-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em !important; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" width="18" /> </a></span><span class="item-control blog-admin pid-1492791015" style="display: inline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2891434812842619790&postID=7905403841478222962&from=pencil" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Edit Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" height="18" src="https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif" style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: none !important; border-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em !important; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" width="18" /> </a></span></span></div></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-16828977307843625832024-03-01T10:44:00.000-08:002024-03-01T10:44:57.497-08:00Action on the Direct Care Workforce<div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-health-of-autistic-adults.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people </a>and their <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/areva-martin-and-public-nuisance-case.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">families</a>. One is a <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/08/aging-caregivers.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">shortage </a>of <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/the-case-for-inclusion-and-future-of.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">caregivers and direct support professionals</a>, which is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/04/autism-services-pay-now-or-pay-later.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">likely </a>to <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2017/08/autism-number-of-stakeholders-will-grow.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">get worse</a>. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/27/hhs-announces-multi-pronged-effort-strengthen-direct-care-workforce.html">From HHS:</a></div><blockquote>Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Administration for Community Living (ACL), announced several new initiatives and resources from ACL’s Direct Care Workforce (DCW) Strategies Center to address the dire shortage of professionals who provide the services many older adults and people with disabilities need to live in the community. These include two technical assistance opportunities to help states strengthen their systems for recruiting, retaining, and developing <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/01/the-state-of-direct-support.html">direct care workers</a>; a national hub to connect states, stakeholders and communities to best practices and other resources related to the direct care workforce; and a webinar series for states and stakeholders focused on a range of direct care workforce topics. These initiatives will help sustain the impact of the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/12/11/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-announces-that-american-rescue-plan-investments-in-home-and-community-based-care-services-for-millions-of-seniors-and-americans-with-disabilities-reach-about-37/">$37 billion in American Rescue Plan funding</a> invested to date by states in home and community-based services, and support the comprehensive set of actions and investments included in the President’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/18/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-most-sweeping-set-of-executive-actions-to-improve-care-in-history/">executive order to improve care</a>.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-4135683938049349692024-02-29T05:55:00.000-08:002024-02-29T06:02:27.792-08:00Sam Bankman-Fried Cites Autism to Request a Lighter Sentence<div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442249615/The-Politics-of-Autism" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/08/autism-and-juvenile-justice.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">discuss</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/12/update-on-neli-latson.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">interactions</a> between the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/05/self-advocates-and-police-training-new.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">justice system </a>and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/03/report-on-policing.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people</a>.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/03/lawyer-tries-to-get-autistic-client-to.html">J6</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/05/insurrectionist-will-cite-asd-as-defense.html">insurrectionists</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/05/legal-defenses-and-malarkey.html">unsuccessfully</a> used <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/capitol-riot-qanon-shaman-files-193623400.html">autism</a> in their <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/12/insurrectionist-fails-with-autism.html">legal </a><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/01/autism-and-insurrection.html">defense</a>.</span></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-claims-autism-231015153.html">Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez at Yahoo:</a><br /><blockquote>In a last-ditch effort to get a more lenient sentence, lawyers for disgraced CEO Sam Bankman-Fried are citing his autism as one reason why he should get five to six years in prison instead of the maximum of <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/sam-bankman-fried-faces-up-to-115-years-in-prison-on-charges-he-organized-one-of-the-biggest-financial-frauds-in-american-history/">110 years</a> laid out by sentencing guidelines.<br /><br /><a href="https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/sbf_attorneys_sentencing_memo.pdf">In a sentencing memo</a> <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66631292/united-states-v-bankman-fried/?page=3">filed Tuesday</a>, lawyers for SBF asked a judge to sentence him to 63 to 78 months in jail in part because he is “uniquely vulnerable in a prison population.” His lawyers claim that SBF’s autism spectrum disorder puts him at higher risk of violence and extortion by other inmates because of how he acts, according to the filing.</blockquote><blockquote>“Because individuals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) may have difficulty responding to certain social cues and contexts, they are at risk from both other inmates and prison guards who may view their failure to respond ‘appropriately’ to social cues as disrespectful or disobedient,” SBF’s lawyers write in the memo.<br /><br />Bankman-Fried would also have trouble understanding and acting in accordance with any “unwritten rules,” that rely on social cues and differ from the actual rules of the prison, according to the filing.</blockquote><p> </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Another day, another finance bro like SBF using the fact he is <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActuallyAutistic?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ActuallyAutistic</a> as a means to get out of prison while tons of Black and Latino undiagnosed men languish in prison. <a href="https://t.co/CCrrHmJJwD">https://t.co/CCrrHmJJwD</a></p>— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricMGarcia/status/1762879594695119048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-66468460682655600582024-02-28T06:10:00.000-08:002024-02-28T06:10:36.779-08:00Measles Redux in Florida<p><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> Examples include <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/vaccines-and-social-amplification-of.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">measles</a>, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/06/covid-and-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID</a>,<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/06/autism-antivax-and-influenza.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> flu</a>, and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/04/antivax-ideology.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">polio</a>.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/05/desantis-rfk-nih-and-who.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">Ron DeSantis's </a>surgeon general is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/03/desantism-trump-and-antivaxxers.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">notorious </a>in this <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/floridas-pro-measles-surgeon-general.html">respect</a>.</span></div><p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-02-28/editorial-florida-shows-how-to-bungle-a-measles-outbreak"><i> Los Angeles Times</i> editorial notes that measles is extremely contagious and potentially deadly.</a></p><blockquote>So it’s especially disheartening to observe the new <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/well/family/florida-measles-outbreak-joseph-ladapo.html">measles cases in Florida</a> — <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/02/25/florida-measles-outbreak-surgeon-general-cdc/72729310007/">eight </a>and growing at last count. It’s not the biggest measles outbreak in recent years, but the ho-hum attitude of the state’s top public health official, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, is deeply troubling.</blockquote><blockquote>Most of the cases so far have been among students at an elementary school in Broward County. But one is a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/02/25/florida-measles-outbreak-surgeon-general-cdc/72729310007/">preschooler</a> — an extremely dangerous age for complications — whose connection to the school is unclear. Something like this was bound to happen. Measles is <a href="https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/measles/hcp/clinical.html#:~:text=The%20incubation%20period%20for%20measles,4%20days%20after%20rash%20onset.">infectious from four days before</a> the telltale rash appears to four days after. That means parents often don’t know when their child might be infected and capable of transmitting the virus to others in and out of school.</blockquote><blockquote>Florida has a reasonable law <a href="https://www.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/immunization/children-and-adolescents/immunization-exemptions/index.html#:~:text=Form%20DH%20681%2C%20Religious%20Exemption,religious%20beliefs%20or%20practices%20only.">requiring vaccination</a> for children to attend private or public school. Unlike California, which allows exemptions only for children with legitimate health reasons, Florida lets parents opt out for religious beliefs, a common loophole throughout the country. And the vaccination rates at the elementary school in question was higher than the national average, at 97%.<br /><br />The problem in quelling this outbreak, though, is the lackadaisical attitude of Ladapo, who has earned notoriety by promoting COVID-19 vaccine skepticism. Last month, he called for a <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4387662-florida-surgeon-general-recommends-against-mrna-covid-shots-cites-discredited-theory/">halt to using mRNA vaccines</a> to fight COVID-19. Still it was shocking that in the midst of the outbreak, he ignored the public health standard set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls for isolating unvaccinated people for 21 days after possible exposure, and is allowing parents to decide whether to send their unvaccinated kids to school. He didn’t even encourage parents of unvaccinated children to get a quick, preventive dose.</blockquote><p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-02-27/as-measles-spreads-herd-stupidity-grips-floridas-government">Michael Hiltzik at LAT:</a></p><blockquote>Ladapo was installed as surgeon general by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, largely because he mouthed the same propaganda opposing anti-COVID measures, including the vaccines, as the governor. DeSantis hasn’t spoken in public about the measles outbreak, but make no mistake: He deserves equal blame for the consequences.<br /><br />To say that Ladapo’s advisory left physicians and epidemiologists aghast would be a massive understatement. Allowing unimmunized children to go to school where they could be exposed to measles contradicts every responsible recommendation from medical science.<br /><br />Ladapo tried to justify the decision to let unimmunized children exposed to measles go to school by asserting that the vaccination rate is high enough.<br /><br />But as epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina observed on her blog, <a href="https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/floridas-recommendations-give-room">Your Local Epidemiologist</a>, while the vaccination rate in Florida is just over 90%, that’s “not high enough — because measles is so contagious, the threshold for herd immunity against measles is 95%. This means there are pockets in the school, other schools, and a community that measles could burn through.”</blockquote><br /><br /> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-78237262868911038182024-02-26T06:50:00.000-08:002024-02-26T06:50:22.210-08:00Autism, COVID, and Inequality<div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-health-of-autistic-adults.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autistic people </a>and their <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/areva-martin-and-public-nuisance-case.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">families</a>. Those challenges were especially tough during the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/11/covid-and-immigrant-parents.html">pandemic</a>.</span></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-024-06280-y#citeas">Anderson, K.A., Radey, M., Rast, J.E. et al. The Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Autistic Children and Their Families. J Autism Dev Disord (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06280-y</a><div><br /></div><blockquote>Abstract<br /><br />Purpose<br /><br />We used data from the National Survey of Children’s Health to (1) examine differences in economic hardship and safety net program use after the implementation of federal relief efforts, and (2) assess whether the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/09/antivaxxer-pandemic-in-many-ways-played.html">COVID-19 pandemic </a>exacerbated autism-based disparities in hardship and program use.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>Methods<br /><br />We examined five dimensions of economic hardship (poverty, food insecurity, medical hardship, medical costs, and foregone work) and four safety net programs (cash assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and free or reduced-cost meals). First, we calculated adjusted prevalence and odds ratios to compare pre-COVID (2018–2019) and during COVID (2021) outcomes by autism status. Next, we calculated the adjusted odds of each outcome among autistic children compared to those of children with and without other special healthcare needs at both time points.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>Results<br /><br />COVID-19 exacerbated autism-based disparities in food insecurity, SNAP, and public health insurance, but alleviated inequities in medical hardship, foregone work, and cash assistance. Autistic children did not experience declines in food insecurity or increases in SNAP like other children; medical hardship and foregone work decreased more for autistic children; and the magnitude of autism-based differences in public coverage significantly increased during the pandemic.<br />Conclusion<br /><br />Federal relief efforts likely improved economic outcomes of children; however, these effects varied according to type of hardship and by disability group. Efforts to promote economic well-being among autistic populations should be tailored to the financial challenges most salient to low-income autistic children, like food insecurity.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-35671741231295570352024-02-25T06:01:00.000-08:002024-02-25T06:01:53.914-08:00Florida's Pro-Measles Surgeon General <div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> Examples include <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/vaccines-and-social-amplification-of.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">measles</a>, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/06/covid-and-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID</a>,<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/06/autism-antivax-and-influenza.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> flu</a>, and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/04/antivax-ideology.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">polio</a>.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/05/desantis-rfk-nih-and-who.html">Ron DeSantis's </a>surgeon general is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/03/desantism-trump-and-antivaxxers.html">notorious </a>in this respect.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/23/florida-measles-outbreak-ladapo-vaccine-guidelines">Jacob Knutson at Axios:<br /> </a><blockquote><a href="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2024/02/23/florida-transgender-drivers-license-bill-hb-1639">Florida</a> Surgeon General <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/03/fda-cdc-v-ladapo.html">Joseph Ladapo</a> contradicted federal health guidelines on measles this week by not urging parents to vaccinate their children against <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/contagious-infographic.html">one of the world's most contagious viruses</a>.<br /><br />Why it matters: <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/01/desantis-lapado-and-antivaxxers.html">Ladapo</a>'s apathy toward measles vaccinations comes as a Florida elementary school is attempting to contain an outbreak and as measles cases have <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/12/measles-us-warning-vaccines-outbreaks-prevent">remerged across the U.S.</a></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It's also an extension of effort by Ladapo and other conservative officials to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/22/republicans-covid-vaccine-oversight-misinformation">undermine federal public health norms</a> and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations — particularly those about vaccinations.</li></ul>Details: In response to at least six confirmed measles cases at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, Florida, Ladapo told parents <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24439728-file_1664">in a letter</a> that the state's health department was deferring to them for "decisions about school attendance.</blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"He said the state would not make a recommendation "due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational cost of healthy children missing school."</li><li>Ladapo acknowledged in the letter it's "normally" advised that unvaccinated children without a prior measles infection stay home for up to 21 days after a case is detected in a school — the CDC's <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/toolkit/state-health-departments.html">guidance</a>.</li><li><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">The state surgeon general also did not recommend vaccines to prevent measles despite recognizing their effectiveness at preventing illness</span></li></ul></blockquote></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-90895312930184233472024-02-23T06:11:00.000-08:002024-02-23T06:58:28.727-08:00RFK Jr. Event in Los Angeles<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> And <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/shutdown-protests-and-antivaxxers.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">among</a> those <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/more-on-antivaxxers-and-shutdown.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases</a> could be <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/antivaxxers-and-covid.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID-19</a>.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/01/antivax-bailout.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Antivaxxers</a> are sometimes <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/12/antivaxxers-get-worse.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">violent</a>, often <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/06/facebook-has-failed-to-act-against.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">abusive</a>, and always <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/12/antivaxxers-and-dunning-kruger-effect.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">wrong</a>. </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/jbs-and-rfk-jr.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">A leading anti-vaxxer</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/rfk-jr-officially-announces.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">presidential candidate</a> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/tucker-carlson-hosts-rfk-jr.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">. </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/01/rfk-jr-and-anne-frank.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">He</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> has repeatedly </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/04/more-on-rfk-jr-and-holocaust-reference.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">compared</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> vaccine mandates to the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/04/rfk-jr-on-holocaust.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">Holocaust</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">. <i>Rolling Stone</i> and</span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2011/01/more-on-salon-retraction.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> Salon</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> retracted an RFK article linking </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2010/11/origins-of-anti-anti-vaccine-crusader.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines to autism</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">.</span></p></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/desantis-says-hed-take-antivax-votes.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">He is now running </a>for <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/rfk-jr-will-hurt-trump.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">president</a> as an <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/10/rfk-jr-may-go-third-party.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">independen</a>t. </div><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/22/robert-kennedy-jr-los-angeles-fundraiser-2024">Dani Anguiano at <i>The Guardian</i>:</a></p><p></p><blockquote>Inside the Million Dollar Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night, comedians cracked jokes about wokeness, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/01/antivaxxers-block-vaccination-site-at.html">the “scamdemic”,</a> Joe Biden’s age and stumbles – and Robert F Kennedy Jr made his pitch, of sorts, to voters.</blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote> ...</blockquote><p></p><blockquote>Kennedy has been campaigning across the country for months, and on Wednesday he was on his home turf of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/los-angeles">Los Angeles</a>, where his wife, Cheryl Hines, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star, hosted a fundraiser in the form of a comedy show. The event was open to anyone with $150 to spare and promised a “Night of Laughter” with standup from names such as Adam Carolla, Jeremy Piven and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/07/antivaxxers.html">Rob Schneider – the one-time SNL star and now conservative influencer</a>.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>...</p> Kennedy has polled higher than expected and drawn support from both <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/democrats">Democrats</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/republicans">Republicans</a>, though a <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/rfk-jr-democrat-republican-primary-favorability/">review</a> by FiveThirtyEight of eight polls on his popularity found that he was better liked among Republicans, which some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/08/robert-kennedy-jr-independent-candidate-republican-voter">experts</a> believe is due to his promotion of conspiracy theories and role as an anti-vaccine activist.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>...</p>Some <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/08/conspiracy-theory.html">comedians</a> did not touch on politics at all, but jokes about Biden falling or the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/07/palin-goes-full-metal-antivax.html">pandemic being “designed”</a> drew rapturous applause, as did a line about Larry David’s support for Barack Obama. The creator of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/curb-your-enthusiasm">Curb Your Enthusiasm</a> told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/10/style/cheryl-hines-robert-f-kennedy-jr.html">New York Times</a> last year that he is not backing Kennedy’s candidacy. Mentions of California’s Democratic governor, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gavin-newsom">Gavin Newsom</a>, unsurprisingly also elicited boos.</blockquote><p><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/01/antivaxxers-block-vaccination-site-at.html">The reference to the "scamdemic" calls to mind a disruptive 2021 protest at a Dodger Stadium mass vaccination site:</a></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">A post on social media described the demonstration as the “Scamdemic Protest/March.” It advised participants to </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">“please refrain from wearing Trump/MAGA attire as we want our statement to resonate with the sheeple</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. No flags but informational signs only.</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></span><p></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-55545715253793808242024-02-22T05:17:00.000-08:002024-02-22T05:17:43.332-08:00Antivax Groups Make Out Like Bandits<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> And <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/shutdown-protests-and-antivaxxers.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">among</a> those <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/more-on-antivaxxers-and-shutdown.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases</a> could be <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/05/antivaxxers-and-covid.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID-19</a>.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><p><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif;"><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/01/antivax-bailout.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Antivaxxers</a> are sometimes <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/12/antivaxxers-get-worse.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">violent</a>, often <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/06/facebook-has-failed-to-act-against.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">abusive</a>, and always <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/12/antivaxxers-and-dunning-kruger-effect.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">wrong</a>. </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/jbs-and-rfk-jr.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">A leading anti-vaxxer</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/04/rfk-jr-officially-announces.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">presidential candidate</a> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/11/tucker-carlson-hosts-rfk-jr.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">. </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/01/rfk-jr-and-anne-frank.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">He</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> has repeatedly </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/04/more-on-rfk-jr-and-holocaust-reference.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">compared</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> vaccine mandates to the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/04/rfk-jr-on-holocaust.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">Holocaust</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">. <i>Rolling Stone</i> and</span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2011/01/more-on-salon-retraction.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> Salon</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> retracted an RFK article linking </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2010/11/origins-of-anti-anti-vaccine-crusader.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines to autism</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">.</span></p></div><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-earnings/">Lauren Weber at WP:</a><div><blockquote>Four major nonprofits that rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic by capitalizing on the spread of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/07/26/covid-misinformation-doctor-discipline/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2">medical misinformation</a> collectively gained more than $118 million between 2020 and 2022, enabling the organizations to deepen their influence in statehouses, courtrooms and communities across the country, a Washington Post analysis of tax records shows.<br /><br />Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/trouble-in-kennedy-campaign.html">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>, received $23.5 million in contributions, grants and other revenue in 2022 alone — eight times what it collected the year before the pandemic began — allowing it to expand its state-based lobbying operations to cover half the country. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/06/antivaxxers-see-covid-vaccines-as.html">Another influential anti-vaccine group</a>, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/09/antivaxxer-pandemic-in-many-ways-played.html">Informed Consent Action Network</a>, nearly quadrupled its revenue during that time to about $13.4 million in 2022, giving it the resources to finance lawsuits seeking to roll back vaccine requirements as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/12/22/anti-vaccine-covid/?itid=ap_laurenweber&itid=lk_inline_manual_4">Americans’ faith in vaccines drops</a>.<br /><br />Two other groups, Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/04/antivax-group-continues-harassment.html">America’s Frontline Doctors</a>, went from receiving $1 million combined when they formed in 2020 to collecting more than $21 million combined in 2022, according to the latest tax filings available for the groups.</blockquote></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-31601237766541132822024-02-21T04:50:00.000-08:002024-02-21T04:50:18.043-08:00Autistic College Students, Social Connections, Depression, and Anxiety<p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">The Politics of Autism</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, I <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/07/program-for-autistic-students-at.html" style="color: #1d44a1; text-decoration-line: none;">discuss</a> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/08/autism-and-higher-education.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">growing number</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> of </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/09/life-after-high-school-in-texas.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration-line: none;">college students</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> on the <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/nonverbal-autistic-man-to-graduate-from.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/a-student-reflects.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;">spectrum</a>. </span></p><p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613231216879"> McKenney, E. E., Richards, J. K., Day, T. C., Brunwasser, S. M., Cucchiara, C. L., Kofner, B., McDonald, R. G., Gillespie-Lynch, K., Lamm, J., Kang, E., Lerner, M. D., & Gotham, K. O. (2024). Satisfaction with social connectedness is associated with depression and anxiety symptoms in neurodiverse first-semester college students. Autism, 0(0</a>). </p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231216879">https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231216879</a></p><p>Lay abstract:</p><p></p><blockquote>How satisfied people feel with their social connections and support is related to mental health outcomes for many different types of people. People may feel less socially connected at some times in their life—like when they start <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/01/overcoming-stereotypes-with.html">college</a>. Feeling disconnected from others could lead to depression or anxiety. The <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2024/02/transition-planning-and-college.html">transition</a> to college may be especially difficult for autistic students as they are more likely to have difficulties adjusting socially. In our study, we asked 263 college students to answer questions about their emotions and social satisfaction twice per week during their first semester of college. We found that students who reported being less satisfied with their social connectedness (either at the beginning or throughout the semester) tended to express more symptoms of depression and anxiety. This relationship between social satisfaction and anxiety was even stronger for people who had a strong desire for social interaction (i.e. were more socially motivated). Students with more autistic traits tended to report more mood concerns, and they also reported being less satisfied with friendships at the beginning of the semester. This information may help to support ongoing efforts to better<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2023/08/supporting-autistic-college-students.html"> address mental health in autistic college students</a> by encouraging efforts to improve social satisfaction.</blockquote><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-74337959837205209542024-02-20T12:21:00.000-08:002024-02-20T12:21:09.197-08:00Helping Disabled People Get Licenses<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="color: #da5b87; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">In <i>The Politics of Autism</i>, I write</a><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"> that </span><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2014/07/problems-with-driving.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">a number of ASD</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> people </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2016/05/communication-impediment-on-texas.html" style="color: #da5b87; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">drive cars</a><span style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">.</span></div><br /><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/the-northeast-independent-living-program-massachusetts-lawrence-drivers-license/"> WBZ-TV's Penny Kmitt:</a><br /><blockquote>There's a non-profit north of Boston that's helping students of all abilities get their driver's licenses in Massachusetts.<br /><br />The <a href="https://www.nilp.org/">Northeast Independent Living Program</a> (NILP) in Lawrence provides services to people with disabilities who want to live independently.<br /><br />"We're just really out there to try to help consumers live independent lives. It can be as small as tying their shoes or as big as getting their license," said NILP's Youth Services Program Manager Steven Michelson. <br /><br />NILP is hosting a Massachusetts Driver's Manual Training Program during February vacation. From Tuesday to Friday, students will learn the driver's manual in a way that is fun, engaging, and caters to all different learning styles. <br /><br />The courses are accessible in person and via Zoom. <br /><br />"We've gone through the entire manual, broke it down into PowerPoints. We're able to break it down, easy to read fonts, fun exercises throughout the week. We cover one to two chapters. We give multiple opportunities for breaks," Michelson told WBZ-TV.<br /><br />Nineteen-year-old Adi Chunduru has autism and took the course last year. Despite working with NILP for years he believes this was the group's most beneficial program.<br /><br />"I would say driving was the thing, the barrier, that they've helped me overcome. I think it did what it set up to do. Their goal is to help people with disabilities get to where they want to be," he explained. </blockquote><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891434812842619790.post-43986917356363965832024-02-19T05:20:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:20:08.505-08:00Mercola and Psychics<p> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Autism-Navigating-Contested-Spectrum/dp/1442249609" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"> <i>The Politics of Autism</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">, I </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/vaccines-are-not-toxic-and-they-do-not.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">analyze</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> the </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/no-jab-no-pay-in-australia.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">discredited</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/hysteresis.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">notion</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> that </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/10/the-illusion-of-causality.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">vaccines</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/11/the-riddle-of-causation.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">cause</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2015/12/vaccine-hesitancy-in-canada.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">autism</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. This </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/how-tennessee-officials-responded-to.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">bogus </a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">idea can </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/measles-in-new-york.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">hurt </a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">people by allowing </span><a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2019/01/autism-vaccines-measles-and-ultra.html" style="background-color: white; color: #da5b87; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;">diseases to spread</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">. <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2020/04/autism-covid-19-and-misinformation.html" style="color: #da5b87; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> Examples include <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/05/vaccines-and-social-amplification-of.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">measles</a>, <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/06/covid-and-autism.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">COVID</a>,<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/06/autism-antivax-and-influenza.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;"> flu</a>, and <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/04/antivax-ideology.html" style="color: #1150c9; text-decoration-line: none;">polio</a>.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">A<a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2022/10/oz-and-antivax-movement.html"> leading</a> <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/06/the-antivaxx-business.html">anti-vaxxer</a> is <a href="http://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2021/07/mercola.html">Joseph Mercola</a>.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/market-trends-analysis/dr-mercola-consulted-with-psychic-before-axing-top-executives" style="font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Rick Polito at Natural Products Insider:</a></p><blockquote>Top executives at Mercola, the brand founded by controversial Covid anti-vax figure Dr. Joseph Mercola, were terminated last week without notice, and evidence has surfaced that the doctor is taking direction from a man who claims to channel the voice of an “ancient and wise high-vibration entity from the causal plane.”<br /><br />An email that appears to be written by Mercola and shared with a reporter for this story also includes language suggesting the firings were related to the executives’ religious beliefs. Mercola did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</blockquote><blockquote>...<br /><br /> In hours of video discovered online, Mercola converses with a man going by the name Kai Clay who speaks as though he is the voice of the entity, referred to as “Bahlon.” Clay, with his eyes closed as if in trance, talks with Mercola about his business and spiritual matters in a rambling conversation that the doctor claims will be the basis of a series of books he plans to publish. In a video of Mercola that was shared with the brand’s employees Feb. 12, the doctor described a 12-book series as “a new beginning for the company” and declared that “my new goal is to reach billions, literally billions, around the world with a new paradigm of how to increase joy in their life.”</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com