IDEA and a Case in Connecticut

In The Politics of Autism, I write about social services, special education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

The Trumpist Project 2025 would turn that law into a "no-string" block grant, thereby gutting its protections for students with autism and other disabilities. Here is an example how child advocates use IDEA, and what they would lose if the Trumpist agenda goes into effect.

Laura Tillman at Connecticut Mirror:

The Office of the Child Advocate and Disability Rights Connecticut have jointly filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs against the Connecticut Department of Education, alleging that the department is not fulfilling its role of monitoring schools for children with disabilities.

The complaint, filed on Wednesday, follows a lengthy investigation by OCA and Disability Rights CT that publicly revealed alarming conditions for those children in specific Connecticut schools earlier this year.

The investigation, which took place between 2019 and 2022, looked at a private school system known as High Road Schools. These private special education schools serve students whose home districts are unable to provide appropriate services for children with special needs. But the investigation alleged that staff at the schools were often uncertified, that education was of poor quality, that students were restrained and put in seclusion at a high rate, and that most children in the programs were sent there from low-income communities of color.

Officials at OCA and Disability Rights CT earlier this summer also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice alleging disability discrimination by four school districts — Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury and Stratford — that send their special needs students to High Road Schools.

That complaint is trying to hold the public school districts accountable, according to Sarah Eagan, the state’s child advocate.

The new complaint is targeting the state’s role, claiming that in its alleged lack of sufficient oversight and regulation, the Connecticut Department of Education is in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which together ensure that children with disabilities have access to quality education and opportunities.

Simulated Traffic Stops and Blue Envelopes

 In The Politics of Autism, I discuss interactions between first responders and autistic people.  Some jurisdictions allow autistic drivers to ask for a blue envelope to disclose the driver's diagnosis in case of an accident or traffic stop.  Others have ID cards.

Grindle, H., Sassu, K.A., Dooley, J.M. et al. Facilitating Interaction with Police During Routine Traffic Stops for Persons with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord (2024). https://doi-org.ccl.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06459-3  Abstract:

A product of ASD socio-communicative-deficits and insufficient police training related to autism, ASD-police interactions have the potential to become problematic, with negative outcomes for ASD individuals and police alike. Thus, the combination of police acclimation, simulatory experience for drivers with ASD and the introduction of Connecticut’s recent Blue Envelope could improve overall experiences for drivers. A simulated routine traffic stop practice event, utilising pre- and post- measures was conducted in an effort to quantify drivers’ feelings about current and future interactions with police. Our prediction that participants would experience a statistically significant improvement in anxiety, comfort and self-perceived knowledge levels about future ASD-police interactions immediately following the intervention was confirmed. Our prediction that initially significant disparities between participants with and without police experience – those with previous police encounters versus those that don’t - would become not significant immediately following the intervention was disconfirmed. While the longitudinal data suggested that improved post-intervention ASD psychological measures remained statistically significant in the long-term, the sample responses to our long-term questionnaire were too few in number to make any definitive conclusions. It is suggested that practice traffic stops such as these could benefit both drivers with ASD and law enforcement nationwide. It is further suggested that police officer curriculums should include additional training regarding special populations.

Progressing the Blue Envelope Protocol

In recent years, the Blue Envelope program has continued to grow, partially helped by the running of these traffic stop practice interventions. Widespread progress has been made throughout the United States when it comes to the protection of ASD drivers and implementing appropriate, thorough police training. However, such efforts have not been united, but implemented on a seemingly state-by-state basis. The Blue Envelope provides a tool that can be standardized and universally used across the nation. With pre-existing state motor vehicle departments, the critical infrastructure required for the mass distribution of the blue envelopes is already in place. A crucial step towards bettering the safety of ASD individuals on the road, a national availability would ensure consistent support to this special group, regardless of place of residence. The national expansion of the program would voice the importance of inclusivity and accessibility to ASD individuals around the United States, emphasising that their ability to participate and enjoy in life’s activities is just as important as anyone else’s, reducing stigmatisation towards ASD persons.
Expanding Police Training

Fundamentally, the maximal efficacy of the Blue Envelope will only be achieved if police are properly trained to understand its utility for ASD drivers and what socio-communicative-cognitive deficits have the potential to complicate ASD driver-police interactions. The voluminous number of horrific ASD-police incidents illuminate the inadequate training law enforcement has previously received (Soares et al., 2019; Hepworth, 2017).

For better ASD-police outcomes, police officers need to undergo training that increases their understandings of the ASD population and provides them with strategies that are likely to result in successful interactions with this population. When police arrive on the scene, their presence can sometimes escalate an already tense environment. It is imperative that the time allocations of police training program are proportionally reallocated to address the disproportionate problems vulnerable populations face, as the present “exposure of trainees to the particular needs of persons with ASD is limited” (Osborn, 2008, p.372). While over half of law enforcement officers had responded to a call involving an individual with ASD within the last year, over 70% of officers reported they had received “no formal training in ASD” (Gardner et al., 2019, p.1278). Ultimately, the creation of a national ASD-related police curriculum, one that is constantly reviewed and updated, would be incredibly beneficial to state governed police training protocols. Police officers have shown a willingness to learn about this issue (Swan & Perepa, 2019), it is time we put in place the appropriate framework for that to be made possible.
Simulation Opportunities

With high rates of ASD-police issues, it is important drivers are doing what they can to limit the likelihood of an unpleasant police engagement. Subsequently, programs such as the practice traffic stop intervention that was facilitated and referenced herein should be universally accessible, with routine simulation experiences run across the country. The psychological improvements observed suggest that the event we ran would be immensely beneficial to the larger ASD driving community. If drivers across the country were able to participate in events such as this, it is highly probable that similar positive outcomes would be yielded on a larger scale, whereby improving positive outcomes for all those involved, drivers and law enforcement alike (Gammicchia & Johnson, n.d.). Effective implementation of these practices provides vast opportunities for all.

States Warn About Shrub Oak

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the use of restraint and seclusion, along with cases of abuse.  In America's complex system for dealing with autism, oversight is uneven, and people on the spectrum can fall through the cracks.

Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen at Pro Publica

Two more states are now scrutinizing a New York boarding school for autistic students and have warned school districts about troubling conditions there.

In Connecticut, education officials visited Shrub Oak International School and alerted districts that a state watchdog group determined there were ongoing “serious safety concerns” at the unregulated for-profit private school. Separately, the state’s Department of Developmental Services, which serves residents with intellectual disabilities and autism, has decided to stop sending more students there, an agency spokesperson told ProPublica. That agency described the facility as looking “more akin to a penal institution than an educational campus.”

Washington education authorities, meanwhile, visited Shrub Oak this month and warned school districts to contact the state before considering enrolling students there. Officials are reviewing the state’s relationship with the school, officials told ProPublica.

The scrutiny of Shrub Oak comes as a ProPublica investigation published in May documented how parents and workers repeatedly asked New York authorities to investigate their concerns at the school to no avail.

An Injunction in Connecticut

 In The Politics of Autism, I write:  "Support from the general public will be an important political asset for autistic people. Another will be their sheer numbers, since a larger population of identified autistic adults will mean more autistic voters and activists."  Previous posts have discussed autistic officeholders and political candidates in California,  New York, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Chris Dehnel at Enfield Patch:

A Connecticut judge has ordered an injunction against the Enfield Board of Education as part of a lawsuit brought forth by a former board member who is both autistic and deaf.

Sarah Hernandez, regarded as one of the first openly autistic people to run for, and be elected to, public office in Connecticut, filed a lawsuit against the school board, the town of Enfield and then-board chairman Walter Kruzel in late 2019. The suit claims she was discriminated against in violation of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

On June 14, United States District Judge Stefan R. Underhill announced the injunction in Bridgeport.

... 

SEE THE TEXT HERE 

The injunction was the next step in the lawsuit after a federal jury in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport sided with Hernandez in January, finding the board and the town discriminated against her in violation of Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for failing to provide her with basic accommodations needed to equally participate as a member of the board.

Hernandez was elected to the school board in 2017, running for a seat because she wanted to "show up and be a voice for people with autism in the decision-making process," she said upon filing the suit.

She has difficulty hearing and understanding telephone conversations and in-person conversations unless she gets written materials, can see the speakers and can take notes. She asked the board to communicate with her between meetings in writing, such as by email and text, and to provide written materials and an erasable white board for note-taking, according to the lawsuit.

Although the board agreed to the accommodations, Kruzel and other board officials refused to follow through, repeatedly insisting on communicating by telephone between meetings and refusing to provide written information or a white board for executive sessions. Her requests were often met with open hostility and anger, according to the lawsuit.

Autistic School Board Member's Lawsuit

In The Politics of Autism, I write:  "Support from the general public will be an important political asset for autistic people. Another will be their sheer numbers, since a larger population of identified autistic adults will mean more autistic voters and activists."  Previous posts have discussed autistic officeholders and political candidates in California,  New York, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Claire Fahy at NYT:

When Sarah Hernandez joined the Enfield, Conn., Board of Education in 2017, she had a goal: making sure schools met the needs of students with disabilities. Among the first openly autistic candidates to be elected to public office in the country, she saw her win as a sign that her small town was open to her perspective.

But if voters were, her colleagues on the school board were not: They consistently denied her the accommodations she needed to do her job, according to a discrimination lawsuit she filed against the school board and the town of Enfield, which is 20 miles north of Hartford. The accommodations she asked for — both because of her autism and because she is hard of hearing — included asking board members to communicate by text or email instead of by phone and to face her while speaking to her.

The court battle over the lawsuit, which accused the board and the town of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, lasted more than four years. Last month, a jury sided with Ms. Hernandez and awarded her damages.

The amount? $10.

The nominal damages were a result of a 2022 Supreme Court decision, according to Stewart J. Schwab, a professor of employment and labor law at Cornell University. In the case, Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, the court ruled that people suing under the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits organizations that receive federal funds from discriminating against people with disabilities, could not be awarded damages for emotional distress.

...

Witnesses testified in court that Ms. Hernandez looked like she could participate in her board duties without accommodations, according to Ms. Hernandez’s lawyer, Anthony May.

Misperceptions like these are why autism is considered an “invisible disability,” according to Simon Baron-Cohen, the director of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University.

Autistic people may be “having a lot of stress under the surface, or confusion or overwhelm, but to the outside, to other people, they seem like they’re just the same as everybody else,” Mr. Baron-Cohen said. “So there’s a change in attitude that’s needed.”

A Police Program in East Haven

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss interactions between first responders and autistic people. 

From the Hartford Courant:

A Connecticut police department has begun a collaboration aimed at helping it serve its residents with autism and special needs.

The East Haven Police Department collaboration includes an “innovative program” named the Linked-Autism Safety Project, according to police Capt. Joseph Murgo.

The free program, created by Ashley McClain, the mother of a child with autism, “builds a relationship between emergency responders and the members of the Autism and special needs community,” according to Murgo. “This project was created as a collaborative effort with a network of public safety professionals, autism professionals and autism parents.”

Murgo said caregivers of the East Haven residents in the autism and special needs community can register online, or at www.easthavenpolice.com, or in person at the East Haven Police Department.

“Upon completing the registration form, this information is made available to first responders with important individualized information about the person with autism and within the special needs community,” Murgo said in an email. “All registrations are secure and confidential and used only for the response of East Haven first responders.”

...

Murgo noted that every East Haven family that registers for the program will receive:

• A Family Emergency Planning Folder with individualized instructions.
• A guide that includes tips and tools to navigate this program in an emergency situation.

Murgo said the family emergency planning folders “provide an emergency preparedness social story, created by professionals, which is a personalized learning tool containing text and illustration that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people within the special needs community of all ages.”

Further, the town’s police patrol vehicles will be equipped with a “sensory kit which contains a variety of sensory products recommended by professionals in the field.”

Waiting

In The Politics of Autism, I write about the everyday struggles facing autistic people and their families.

Elise Person at WHP-TV, Harrisburg, PA:

Medical Director at Meliora Health, Dr. Cheryl Tierney, said as autism becomes more common, wait times to see a specialist to diagnose a child continue to get longer.

She said they are working to combat long wait times by meeting with diagnosing children with autism at the virtual level.

“We can get children in for a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment in about two weeks,” Tierney said.

According to Tierney, the average wait time across the county to get a child seen by a specialist for a diagnosis can range between six and 18 months.

She said in the state of Pennsylvania, most specialized interventions needed for children with autism can not be administered until a child is diagnosed.

Central Pennsylvanian mother, Lobna said she was on a waiting list for nearly a year until she was able to get her then two-year-old seen by a specialist and diagnosed with autism.

“Every day is just a day lost,” Lobna said. “As far as my experience, it was just completely, just disheartening,” Lobna said.

 Sam Smink at WFSB-TV in Connecticut:

A Suffield family is asking the state to invest more money in a program that is supposed to provide services for those with autism.

As the I-Team found, the waitlist is thousands of people long, but only a small number are receiving help.

33-year-old Brendan Kearney isn’t just into movies and video games, his dad John Kearney says he’s also really good at computers.

”Whenever we have a problem with our PCs here in the house, it’s always Brendan! 99 times out of 100 he solves the problem,” says Kearney.

Brendan has autism, and lives with his parents.

Despite challenges, Kearney has held several jobs through the years.

Still life hasn’t always been kind.

”It’s not been easy for him. That’s for sure,” says Kearney.

To help make the future easier for Brendan, Kearney signed him up for Connecticut’s Medicaid Autism Lifespan Waiver Program in February.

The program provides support and services to adults with autism who have an IQ over 70, up to $50,000 a person depending on their needs.  

Brendan got in but was immediately put on a waitlist. 

“I was told there was a waitlist, and the waitlist was on the order of more than 10 years,” says Kearney.

According to data the I-Team requested from the Department of Social Services, there are 2,005 individuals on the waitlist.

Right now, there are just 219 people receiving services under the program: 11%.

Medicaid Reimbursement Rates in Connecticut

The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of insurance and Medicaid services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Ginny Monk at Connecticut Mirror:

Kids across Connecticut, like Jaylen, are in a holding pattern. They’re wait-listed for autism services such as therapy and medication management, and while they wait, behavioral issues that need quick and consistent intervention are solidifying, parents and providers said.

If they don’t get the help they need, they are often at heightened risk of needing to be institutionalized or hospitalized because of their mental health issues.

Federal law requires that kids with autism diagnoses receive “timely and adequate medically necessary services,” a Dec. 15 letter from disability and child advocates to state officials said.

Reimbursement rates for Medicaid in Connecticut, where the program is known as HUSKY,[Health Care for Uninsured Kids and Youth] are too low for autism behavioral services, providers and advocates say. They’re the lowest in New England.

It means providers are losing money when they offer services to kids with HUSKY insurance. Many have either added more patients with private insurance to their workload or aren’t accepting the public option, providers and advocates said.

“Kids with autism and other developmental and intellectual disabilities are really underserved,” said Sarah Eagan, Connecticut’s child advocate. “No one has ever pushed back on that — everyone acknowledges that.”

Despite that widespread acknowledgement, kids aren’t getting the help they need, she said.

Kids who have HUSKY insurance are typically in families with lower incomes and are disproportionately likely to be Black or Hispanic.

Blue Envelopes and Implementation

In The Politics of Autism, I write:

[M]any police departments have trained officers and other first responders how to spot signs of autism and respond accordingly. Some organizations have also published identification cards that ASD adults can carry in order to defuse potential conflicts. Virginia provides for an autism designation on driver licenses and other state-issued identification cards. Once again, however, the dilemma of difference comes into play. One autistic Virginian worries: “Great, so if I get into an accident, who’s the cop going to believe, the guy with the autistic label or the guy without it?” Clinical psychologist Michael Oberschneider is concerned about the understanding level of first responders: “I think many people still think of Rain Man or, more recently, the Sandy Hook Shooter, when they think of autism even though very few people on the autistic spectrum are savants or are homicidal and dangerous.”

Another problem:  identification methods do no good if cops don't know about them.

Siobhan McGirl at WVIT-TV:

Sonia Turner said she will never forget the day her son, Jordan, got his license. She remembers him coming back from his test with a huge grin, telling her that he had passed.

"It was one of the happiest days of his life," said Turner, who lives in Windsor.

Turner said she was also happy, but she felt mixed emotions.

"Very, very nervous," said Turner. "Very scared, but I knew this was something he had to do."

Jordan Turner is on the autism spectrum. His mom said that he might communicate differently, especially in a potentially high stress situation like a traffic stop.

"Someone who doesn't know that he has autism might think that he's being disrespectful, or that he is being unruly, or he's resisting what they are telling him to do and that's not the case," said Turner.

In January of 2020, a new program was created in Connecticut to address concerns just like Turner's. The 'Blue Envelope' was created to enhance communication between a police officer and a driver with autism.

But when Turner went to her local police department to get an envelope for her son, she had some trouble actually finding one.

"The sergeant that came to the window had no idea what I was talking about," said Turner. "If we have tools like the blue envelope put into place - why is it so difficult to get?"

 

Republican Antivaxxers in Connecticut

 In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.   And among those diseases could be COVID-19.

Unfortunately, Republican politicians have been pushing this dangerous myth.

Daniela Altimari at The Hartford Courant:

In Connecticut and around the country, the debate over childhood immunizations is now a proxy war for Republicans concerned about religious freedom, parents’ rights, and the government’s role in enforcing public health rules such as masks to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

That shift was evident Tuesday, during a marathon legislative hearing on a pair of bills that would make it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinating their children.

“Progressive, Republican ... whatever, it’s not even about that,’' said Rep. Lezlye Zupkus, R-Prospect. “It’s about our children.”

Zupkus said she’s not “an anti-vaxxer,’' adding that her own children have received their required immunizations. “But I, like you, have the right to say what my children get vaccinated with or not,’' she said. “This is not a partisan issue in my opinion. It is about our children and we are their parents.”

...

 Peter Hotez, a pediatrician and global health expert at the Baylor College of Medicine, has studied the anti-vaccination movement. Social media and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon have helped spread the growth of vaccine conspiracy theories and the COVID-19 pandemic has further fueled the skepticism about the government’s public health initiatives.

“What was an anti-vaccine movement became an anti-science movement,’' said Hotez, who was interviewed by phone. “It’s tied to the political extremism of the far-right.’'

Hotez, who grew up in West Hartford, said he’s seen similar anti-vaccine activism among Republicans in Texas and other states. “I’m really disappointed it’s reached Connecticut,’' he said.

Cliffs

In The Politics of Autism, I write:

When disabled people reach their 22d birthday, they no longer qualify for services under IDEA. ... People in the disability community refer to this point in life as “the cliff.” Once autistic people go over the cliff, they have a hard time getting services such as job placement, vocational training, and assistive technology. IDEA entitles students to transition planning services during high school, but afterwards, they have to apply as adults and establish eligibility for state and federal help. One study found that 39 percent of young autistic adults received no service at all, and most of the rest got severely limited services.

Autistic adults face several cliffs:

• The age cliff, where IDEA services cut off at the 22d birthday;
• The income cliff, where SSI and other benefits cut off if a person makes too much;
• The IQ cliff, where some states decline to provide certain services to autistic people with scores above a certain level.

In Meriden, Connecticut Matthew Zabierek reports at The Record-Journal:

Many middle-income families just outside the Medicaid financial requirements are never eligible to receive services from DSS and must carve out services and a path to independence on their own.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of points that separates who qualifies and who doesn’t qualify. And the person just over the cutoff still needs support, and the housing and the services aren’t necessarily available, so they fall into that vulnerable place,” Exum said.

In addition to financial requirements, Sharon Cable said finding services for her son is also made difficult by an unusual “IQ cutoff” enforced by state statute. Connecticut is one of the last states in the country that still uses the medical diagnosis of mental retardation, measured by having an IQ of 69 or lower, to determine whether people with autism are eligible for certain services.

Decades ago, the majority of people diagnosed on the spectrum were also considered intellectually disabled, however, the federal Department of Human Services reported to Congress in 2017 that 31.6 percent of children with ASD are intellectually disabled.

Under state law, an individual who scores an IQ of 69 or lower receive services from the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), while those with an IQ of 70 or higher receive services through the Department of Social Services (DSS).

This cutoff puts individuals with an IQ of 70 or above at a disadvantage because DDS generally offers more services and has shorter waitlists, advocates say, though they note even DDS still has wait times for services like day and residential programs and behavioral services.

“There are still hundreds of families that are upset about lack of what they would think would be appropriate services from DDS,” Macnab said.

Advocates, families, and medical professionals for years have lobbied the legislature to do away with the “IQ cut off” because they argue it’s not the best indicator of need and precludes many families from services.

First Responders and Autistic People

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss interactions between first responders and autistic people. 

Heather Jordan at MLive:

A local initiative to provide first responders with autism sensory kits designed to soothe children with autism spectrum disorder and other special needs during emergency situations is growing.

Last month, emergency personnel with five Saginaw-area departments received the new “Carter Kits” during a press conference at Saginaw Fire Department Station No. 1, 801 Federal Ave. The event was attended by 5-year-old Carter Severs, who has autism spectrum disorder and for whom the kits are named, his parents, Justin Severs, a Saginaw Township police detective, and Kelley Severs, their friend Andrew Keller, an area Realtor who donated the first 10 kits, Saginaw firefighter Brandon Hausbeck, and others involved in the effort.

Carter Kits contain noise-canceling ear muffs, sunglasses, a weighted blanket, sensory toys and fidget devices. Now, thanks to a donation of more than $10,000 from the 100+ Women Who care-Mid Michigan membership, the program is expanding, Keller said. The donation will fund 200 to 250 more kits for use locally, according to a post on the Carter Kits - Autism Sensory Bags Facebook page.

Alfred Branch at Darien Patch:

Members of the Darien Police Department are now looking for the "Blue Envelope" when they pull over motorists during traffic stops. The special envelopes are part of a statewide program, supported by the Connecticut Police Chief's Association, Department of Motor Vehicles, and Autism Advocacy groups, that seeks to improve interactions between police officers and people on the autism spectrum.

"Traffic stops can be stressful for anyone, but are exceptionally so for those identified as autistic," said Darien police officials in a statement. "To help improve the encounter, participants will keep their vehicle information in the new blue colored envelope. When the individual is pulled over and retrieves their registration at an officer's request, it will be immediately apparent to the officer that the individual is on the autism spectrum."

The blue envelope is a clear indication to the officer that the individual may not react in a way that he or she is used to, which has the potential for miscommunication, according to officials. It also allows for the individual to have some idea of what may happen during the stop, as uncertainty is a particular challenge for those with autism. On the envelope are tips for both the driver and officer on how best to navigate a traffic stop.

Blue Envelopes in Connecticut

In The Politics of Autism, I write:

[M]any police departments have trained officers and other first responders how to spot signs of autism and respond accordingly. Some organizations have also published identification cards that ASD adults can carry in order to defuse potential conflicts. Virginia provides for an autism designation on driver licenses and other state-issued identification cards. Once again, however, the dilemma of difference comes into play. One autistic Virginian worries: “Great, so if I get into an accident, who’s the cop going to believe, the guy with the autistic label or the guy without it?” Clinical psychologist Michael Oberschneider is concerned about the understanding level of first responders: “I think many people still think of Rain Man or, more recently, the Sandy Hook Shooter, when they think of autism even though very few people on the autistic spectrum are savants or are homicidal and dangerous.”

Shawnte Passmore and Kaitlyn Naples at WFSB-TV:

A new state law is helping law enforcement during traffic stops, and supporters believe it improves the interaction between officers and drivers.

The new law was backed by the Connecticut Police Chief’s Association, Department of Motor Vehicles, and an autism advocacy group, who all rallied around the creation of the "Blue Envelope."

With the law, a driver would present a blue envelope to an officer, which should have registration and insurance papers. On each side, there’s information on how each party should respond during the stop.

Text of law:

The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the Connecticut Police Chiefs
Association and at least one organization that advocates for persons with autism spectrum disorder, shall design and make available blue envelopes that (1) provide written information and guidance on the outside of the envelopes regarding ways to \enhance effective communication between a police officer and a person with autism spectrum disorder, and (2) are capable of holding a person's motor vehicle operator's license, registration and insurance identification card. On and after January 1, 2020, upon request by a person with autism spectrum disorder or if such person is a minor, such person's parent or guardian, the commissioner shall provide a blue envelope designed pursuant to this section to such person, parent or guardian

Additional documentation, including testimony 

Gubernatorial Candidates Abet the Antivax Movement

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.

Republican gubernatorial candidates are abetting the anti-vax movement.

Max Reiss at NBC Connecticut:

In a grainy video recorded over the summer at a campaign event, Bob Stefanowski, the Republican candidate for governor, shared some of his thoughts on childhood immunization laws.

NBC Connecticut obtained the video of Stefanowski from a source working for Democratic campaigns in Connecticut. The video is two minutes long, and it is unknown what is said before or after the two-minute portion on immunization policy.

Stefanowski was asked by an audience member at the event, which appears to have been hosted by the Quiet Corner Tea Party, about the state mandating certain immunizations in order for students to attend public school.

The member of the audience, who is off camera and cannot be identified, asked, “Do you think the state should dictate [immunizations] or should local [Boards of Education] handle that?”

Stefanowski responded by saying, “I think it depends on the vaccination. We shouldn’t be dumping a lot of drugs into kids for no reason.”

Reiss also reports:

More than three dozen doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are criticizing Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski after NBC Connecticut aired exclusive video of the candidate expressing skepticism of childhood vaccines and the state law requiring kids get immunized in order to attend school.

The group of health professionals includes pediatricians, registered nurses, and other specialists.

"As pediatricians, it is deeply concerning to us that a candidate for governor would spread flagrant disinformation about childhood vaccinations," The group wrote of Stefanowski’s comments.

They went on to describe Stefanowski’s position as, "downright dangerous," and "irresponsible."

Jay Michaelson at The Daily Beast:

In Oregon, Dr. Knute Buehler—yes, a physician—said that “parents should have the right to opt out” of vaccinations “for personal beliefs, for religious beliefs or even if they have strong alternative medical beliefs.”

Buehler described the opt-out system as beneficial. “I think that gives people option and choice and that’s the policy I would continue to pursue as Oregon’s governor,” he said.

And in Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, the favorite in the governor’s race, said in February that “I believe in choice. And we’ve got six children and we don’t vaccinate, we don’t do vaccinations on all of our children. So we definitely pick and choose which ones we’re gonna do. It’s gotta be up to the parents, we can never mandate that. I think there’s legislation right now that are trying to mandate that to go to public schools, it’s absolutely wrong. My wife was home schooled, I went to public schools, our kids go to Christian school, and that’s back to a parent’s choice.”.”

Licensing Behavior Analysts

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing autistic people and their families.

Occupational licensing is a tricky issue.  On the one hand, it can protect consumers from unqualified providers of service.  On the other hand, it can hurt consumers by limiting competition and driving up prices.  

In July 2018, Connecticut became the 30th state to require licensing of behavior analysts. Josh Kovner reports at The Hartford Courant:

While there is, and has been since 1998, a group of board certified, master’s- and doctorate-level practitioners in the state, they have been stretched thin, and the side doors to the profession were always left open.

That allowed people with far less professional training to slip in and find work in family homes and even in schools, particularly during the first decade of the 2000s, as parents with children who were newly diagnosed with autism became desperate for qualified analysts.

A person with a good rap and an affinity for working with children could earn a lot of money, at rates approaching $400 an hour — and they could keep working for months or even years, unless or until a parent or school district recognized that the impostor was skirting the requirements for studied observation: precise assessments of behaviors, careful data collection, an individualized treatment plan and follow-up.

“I called them cowboys — maybe they got a list of programs, maybe they attended a workshop, or they spent time working with someone who was qualified,” said Suzane Letso, the mother of a son with autism and a pioneer in the field in Connecticut.

Several years ago, Letso helped win title protection for the real practitioners. It became a felony for someone without board certification to call him or herself a behavior analyst. However, that didn’t stop people with no credentials from offering their services. They just avoided the title, Letso said.

“Of course it can do harm,” Julie Swanson, mother of a son with autism and a special education consultant, said of the work of unqualified behaviorists. “If the intervention doesn’t work, behavior problems can linger into adulthood, and they can become magnified in adulthood. If the assessment is wrong, then the treatment plan is going to be wrong.”

Problems with Group Homes

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the civil rights of people with autism and other disabilities. 

From the US Department of Health and Human Services:

This joint report is issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG); Administration for Community Living (ACL); and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to help improve the health, safety, and respect for the civil rights of individuals living in group homes. The joint report provides suggested model practices to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and States for comprehensive compliance oversight of group homes to help ensure better health and safety outcomes. In addition, the Joint Report provides suggestions for how CMS can assist States when serious health and safety issues arise that require immediate attention.
...

In OIG’s audits of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, the State agencies did not comply with Federal waiver and State requirements for reporting and monitoring critical incidents involving Medicaid beneficiaries with developmental disabilities. These audits found that these State agencies:

• failed to ensure that group homes reported all critical incidents,
• failed to ensure that all critical incidents reported by group homes were properly recorded,
• failed to ensure that group homes always reported incidents at the correct severity level,
• failed to ensure that all data on critical incidents were collected and reviewed, and
• failed to ensure that reasonable suspicions of abuse or neglect were properly reported.

...
Our suggestions for ensuring group-home beneficiary health and safety involve four key
compliance oversight components:

1. reliable incident management and investigation processes;
2. audit protocols that ensure compliance with reporting, review, and response requirements;
3. effective mortality reviews of unexpected deaths; and
4. quality assurance mechanisms that ensure the delivery and fiscal integrity of appropriate community-based services.

Abandonment at the ER

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss health care issues and state social services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Josh Kovner at The Hartford Courant reports on a Catch-22 in Connecticut law.  Some parents are going to emergency rooms to abandon children with autism and other developmental disabilities.  The Department of Developmental Services consider such children "safe" because they are receiving care in a hospital, so they do not qualify for emergency placement.  But the hospitals cannot safely discharge them or provide them with the services that they nee

The abandonments “break your heart — because as a mother, you’d cut off an arm to not have to do that, right?’’ said Leslie Simoes of West Hartford, a mother and co-director of Autism Services and Resource Center in Wallingford 

“Well, it shows how the system has fractured. We have seen more of these abandonments in the last few years, but I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more, because there easily could be. Families who have been denied services are pushing beyond the edge, to bankruptcy, divorce or even homelessness,” to continue to care for a son or daughter with developmental disabilities.

NIMBY: A Problem for Autistic Adults

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss problems facing autistic adults.

At The Hartford Courant, Josh Kovner reports on Kathy Roberts, who has long used a Fairfield church basement to run a program for autistic children.

Now, a plan to create a new program on the property for young people 21 and over who have "aged out" of Giant Steps has run into a stone wall, with the town planning board rejecting an expansion plan. The obstacle placed in Roberts' path has attracted the attention of advocates statewide, who are sensitive to what they perceive to be "not-in-my-backyard reactions to the placement or expansion of programs for people with disabilities. They point out that there is a severe shortage in Connecticut of services for the 21-and-over population, who are no longer eligible for the federally mandated educational benefits they enjoyed since preschool.

...
In interviews, advocates watching this play out from afar — Roberts has filed an appeal of the commission's denial of the expansion — say they believe that programs that serve people with disabilities have, over time, encountered barriers such as this with greater frequency than other business plans. They mentioned the placement of group homes and sober houses, and the proposed expansion of treatment facilities, as examples. But they said this denial cuts particularly deep.

"It potentially raises an ADA claim," said disability rights lawyer Kathleen Flaherty, referring to the Americans With Disabilities Act. The law requires reasonable accommodations to be made so people with disabilities have a chance to participate in mainstream life.

In fact, Roberts' appeal, filed by lawyer Michael Bologna of Fairfield, raises an ADA claim.

"You can't help but think that something else is going on," said Flaherty, executive director of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project in Middletown.

Home-Schooling and IEPs

Christina Samuels writes at Education Week:

A draft proposal in Connecticut that home-schooled students with disabilities receive individualized education programs and be monitored by their local school districts is meeting with resistance, the Hartford Courant reports.

The recommendation is one of several under consideration from an expert panel in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012 that left 20 children and six adults dead. The draft proposal was released Feb. 12; the final recommendations are expected to be submitted to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Friday.
...

The chairman of the panel told the Courant that the reporting requirement, if approved, would only apply to children who had once attended public school. But the recommendation infringes on the rights of parents to educate their children as they see fit, home-schooling advocates say.

Deborah G. Stevenson, the executive director of National Home Education Legal Defense in Southbury, Conn., has written a lengthy rebuttal to the proposed recommendation, noting that Lanza was not home schooled and that federal law already provides a mechanism for children to be evaluated for special services with parental consent (this provision of the IDEA is called "child find.")

Medicaid in Connecticut

The Connecticut Post reports that although the state's Medicaid program is expanding coverage, it is also proposing regulatory barriers:

Some provisions of the proposed regulations are unlike those any other state has imposed, according to the national advocacy group Autism Speaks. One requirement – that a caregiver be present or available at all times while treatment is being provided – would discriminate against children of working, single or disabled parents, the group said. And it warned that another provision related to provider qualifications “threatens to virtually gut coverage in Connecticut and deprive Medicaid-eligible children under 21 of medically necessary care in direct violation” of federal obligations.

“There are so many roadblocks here that it’s unlikely for this to allow for the demand to be met,” said Jay Sicklick, deputy director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy, which is affiliated with the UConn School of Law.

In the past, the state Department of Social Services denied Medicaid coverage of applied behavior analysis to families seeking it for their children. But last summer, the federal government made clear that state Medicaid programs must cover medically necessary services for clients under 21 with autism spectrum disorders.At issue is how Medicaid will handle coverage of services for autism spectrum disorders, particularly applied behavior analysis, a treatment that is considered effective but is also intensive – providers often recommend 30 to 40 hours of therapy per week – and costly.

DSS has projected that the coverage would cost $28.1 million in the next fiscal year, half of which would be reimbursed by the federal government. Although the regulations are not finalized, the coverage took effect Jan.1.