Pro-Polio Legislation in NH

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 and conservative media figures are increasingly joining up with the anti-vaxxers.   Even before COVID, they were fighting vaccine mandates and other public health measures. 

The anti-vax movement has a great deal of overlap with MAGA, QAnon, and old-school conspiracy theory.

Julia Metraux at Mother Jones:

New Hampshire could soon beat Florida—known for its anti-vaccine Surgeon General—when it comes to loosening vaccine requirements. A first-in-the-nation bill that’s already passed New Hampshire’s state House, sponsored only by Republican legislators, would end the requirement for parents enrolling kids in childcare to provide documentation of polio and measles vaccination. New Hampshire would be the only state in the US to have such a law, although many states allow religious exemptions to vaccine requirements.

Currently, Republicans control New Hampshire’s state House, Senate and governor’s office—but that isn’t a guarantee that the bill will be signed into law, with GOP Gov. Chris Sununu seemingly flip-flopping when it comes to disease control. Sununu did sign a bill in 2021 allowing people to use public places and services even if they did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine. But the next year, the governor vetoed a bill that would bar schools from implementing mask mandates.
...

Rises in anti-vaccine sentiments have largely been linked to concerns that vaccines cause health issues, like the debunked claim that the MMR vaccine leads to kids being autistic. What parents may want to keep in mind is that polio and measles themselves are disabling conditions: according to the World Health Organization, 1 in 200 polio infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Children who get measles can experience symptoms including swelling of the brain. Death is always a possibility, too.

...

The bill would strike language requiring that immunization records be submitted to childcare agencies, but would keep those requirements for students enrolling in kindergarten through 12th grade. As of 2022, according to the nonprofit ChildCare Aware of America, there are some 700 licensed childcare centers and homes in New Hampshire (which doesn’t require the Covid-19 vaccine for enrollment in childcare, either, despite its efficiency in reducing both death rates and acute symptoms).

RFK Jr is Still Pushing the Autism Myth

 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.

Antivaxxers are sometimes violent, often abusive, and always wrong. A leading anti-vaxxer is presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  He has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust.  Rolling Stone and Salon retracted an RFK article linking vaccines to autism.

Isabelle Han at The Dartmouth:

On April 26, the Concerned Alumni of Dartmouth College hosted a sold-out roundtable discussion titled “Important Conversations Never Had — College COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: Scientific, Legal and Ethical Considerations” at the Hanover Inn, followed by a speech from lawyer and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A Q&A session had originally been scheduled to take place after the panel, but the segment was canceled after Kennedy announced his last-minute appearance at the event, according to Michael Koss, a member of Concerned Alumni of Dartmouth College.

...

Kennedy’s speech, which replaced the advertised Q&A, lasted for approximately 30 minutes and focused on the claim that vaccines cause autism in children.

“We have solid proof that they are causing more harm than [good]… that they are killing our children,” Kennedy said. “And yet a thousand colleges in this country still have these [COVID-19 vaccine] mandates.”

Kennedy added that he has met multiple women with children who have intellectual disabilities, which they believe “were caused by vaccines.” He pointed to the statistic that the rate of autism in children has increased as vaccination numbers have also increased.

“In my generation, [the rate of autism] is still one in 10,000,” Kennedy said. “In my kids’ generation, one in 34 kids have the diagnosis.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, while the rate of autism among children has risen since initial estimates in the 1960s, the diagnostic criteria used to classify the disorder has also expanded. The claim that vaccines cause autism has also been disproven, according to the CDC.

Kennedy added that he is not “anti-vaccine” but skeptical because there is no “placebo-controlled” study that proves that vaccines are safe. However, all vaccines approved for use in the United States are subject to placebo testing, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Republicans and Antivaxxers

 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 are increasingly joining up with the anti-vaxxers.  Recent examples include a member of the House COVID subcommittee and a crackpot who won the US Senate nomination in Oregon.

Kiera Butler at Mother Jones:

Anti-vaccine groups’ efforts to court Republicans have started to pay off. In the last few years, conservative lawmakers in several states have introduced legislation that seeks to weaken rules around vaccination. In 2017, a group of Republican Texas state reps who called themselves the Freedom Caucus sought to block the state’s effort to track the number of parents who sought exemptions for schools’ vaccine requirements. The Freedom Caucus passed an amendment that requires the state to obtain parental consent from biological parents before vaccinating children in foster care. A Pennsylvania state senator, Daryl Metcalfe, sponsored a bill in 2019 that would prohibit doctors from refusing to care for unvaccinated patients. In January, Colorado state Sen. Dave Williams introduced legislation that would require health care workers to give parents a list of ingredients and rare side effects before administering vaccines; it would also forbid them from even recommending a vaccine to a teenager without parental consent. It didn’t pass, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. In the days leading up to the vote, the admins of the Facebook group People for Informed Consent exhorted members to “spend the next few days working the halls and working the phones like it is your only job. You must secure every Republican Senator and flip three Democrats.”

In 2018, researchers from Drexel University in Pennsylvania reviewed 175 proposed pieces of legislation about states’ vaccine exemption laws. They found that bills that sought to make it easier to opt out of vaccines were more likely to come from Republican lawmakers. Of the 13 bills that ultimately passed, 12 weakened existing laws around vaccine requirements.

Damien Fisher at Manchester Ink Link:

A group of New Hampshire doctors want United States Senate candidates Bryant “Corky” Messner and Donald Bolduc to stop voicing what they say are dangerous theories about vaccines.

“You are both highly visible as candidates for the U.S. Senate, making your anti-vaccination positions especially dangerous. In recent weeks you both have pushed harmful conspiracy theories that could undermine the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the letter sent Wednesday states.

Messner’s campaign senior advisor Mike Biundo, said Messner wants the vaccine development process to be transparent and leave the choice to get vaccinated up to families and individuals.

“He believes that parents and individuals need to be able to make informed decisions, but that those decisions need to be mindful of public health,” Biundo wrote in an email response.

Bolduc said his views on vaccines are guided by his concerns about consent and civil rights.

“We need to be responsible about vaccines, where there’s risk there needs to be choice,” Bolduc said in a phone interview.

The letter, signed by five doctors including State Representative Dr. Gary Wood, D-Bow, calls out both Republican candidates for their statements about vaccines. Messner and Bolduc are currently in a primary race with the winner taking on incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in the fall.

Civil Rights and Education During COVID-19

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing autistic people and their families. Those challenges get far more intense during disasters.  And coronavirus is proving to be the biggest disaster of all. Providing education is proving to be very difficult.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has posted a joint statement from civil rights organizations, including the National Center for Learning Disabilities and the National Disability Rights Network:

Federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), requires students with disabilities to receive a free appropriate public education and related services, such as speech or occupational therapies. Additionally, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits federally funded programs from discriminating against individuals with disabilities, including students. These legal requirements and educational imperatives continue, even in the face of the current public health crisis. While school closures may present many challenges for students, families, and educators who are used to working together in-person, there are many examples of schools and districts working creatively to ensure that the needs of students with disabilities are met and they are not denied an education. Special attention is needed to ensure the rights of children with disabilities who are also English learners, low-income, or students of color are met.

• Florida UCP Charter Schools will be providing a customized Distance Learning program for its PreK – 12th grade students. This will include daily live lessons and virtual field trips/performances using Google Meet by teachers, “specials” and guests (i.e. legislators, local celebrities), classroom and individualized lessons using Google Classroom, and remote occupational, physical, and speech therapies. Clinical Counselors will provide virtual therapy and behavior technicians will host virtual social skills groups and individualized virtual meetings with parents/students. Family Service Case Managers will conduct a weekly “check in” with families to provide any needed support/resources and school nurses will check in with students with health care needs.
• The Ohio Department of Education is working to ensure students with disabilities receive educational services consistent with their Individualized Education Programs. Recognizing the challenges this may present, the Department has advised school districts to consider three questions in the delivery of special education services: “1. Is the activity essential? 2. Can the activity be done virtually? 3. If there is no other choice, then can the activity be done safely?” Consulting local health departments is advisable and encouraged.
• The Manchester, NH School District set up a link to access information regarding home instruction. There is a letter to parents (available in audio in multiple languages), and information about food delivery, lessons, and materials for elementary school. It appears Manchester is rolling out lesson plans by grade level, starting with elementary school. The letter to parents indicates that the district intends to provide services in students’ IEPs and 504 plans, including possibly bringing small cohorts of students into the schools. Teachers will call parents. Meals and hard-copy materials are being delivered daily.
• According to a parent of the Argyle Independent School District in Texas: “We are receiving online instruction through Google Classroom. The teachers are making videos or using WebEx to connect with students and have had great communication and availability. They are currently sending out information for “parent-focused speech therapy.” Special Education teachers have modified assignments and hand delivered them to each student’s home and are available remotely to help and answer questions.
• LEAs, schools, parents, and advocates may also consider emerging best practices for complying with federal disability law during COVID-19 school closures by visiting the National Center for Learning Disabilities website here and here. Practitioners and families can also find curated, searchable resources, access to experts, and examples from the field, provided by national organizations, here.

Recommendations to Effectively Serve Students with Disabilities

• LEAs and schools should develop a process for reaching out to families to assess each student’s circumstance or new challenges that may need to be addressed in the home learning environment. Schools should develop a plan for regular, ongoing communication with families, in a language they understand, to monitor student progress.
• LEAs and schools should develop a process for involving families in all Individualized Education Program team meetings and decisions about the student’s education needs, goals, and services that will be provided.
• LEAs and schools should ensure that specialized instruction and related services continue for students with disabilities to the greatest extent possible in whatever manner is most appropriate for the child, while maintaining health and safety standards.
• LEAs and schools should provide educators the tools and professional development to scaffold their teaching and ensure that their lessons are designed in accordance with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), offering multiple ways for students to engage. School districts should also provide opportunities to increase collaboration and communication among educators and service providers to evaluate students’ needs and work together to make appropriate adjustments for students with disabilities.
• LEAs and schools should determine which needed services cannot be adequately or appropriately provided at this time and begin to plan for the provision of compensatory services as soon as possible.

Discrimination Lawsuit

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

At the Associated Press, Michael Casey reports on a federal lawsuit claiming that Party City discriminated against a New Hampshire woman when a sales manager learned that she is autistic.

The woman, Ashley Waxman, was allegedly denied a job at a Party City in Nashua, New Hampshire. She filed a complaint with the EEOC alleging the store had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The act prohibits employers from discriminating based on disability and requires that employees with disabilities be offered a reasonable accommodation, including the use of a job coach.

A 9/19 release from EEOC provide more detail:

 Party City Corporation violated federal law by failing to hire a qualified employee with a disability at its Nashua, N.H. location, after it became aware that she required a job coach as a reasonable accommodation for her disability, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC's complaint, the disabled applicant, then a senior in high school who was on the autism spectrum and suffered from severe anxiety, had been receiving services from Easter Seals of New Hampshire for a number of years to build up her self-confidence, including around working and applying for a job. One of these Easter Seals employees went with her in October 2017 to apply for a sales associate job with Party City during its busy season. The applicant received a job interview, but when the hiring manager discovered that the woman accompanying her was not her mother and instead was a job coach, the hiring manager's attitude changed dramatically.

The EEOC's lawsuit further alleges that the hiring manager told the job coach that Party City had hired people "like that" (people with disabilities with job coaches) in the past and that it had not gone well. The hiring manager made disparaging comments about those individuals. Although both the applicant and the job coach explained to the hiring manager that the applicant had been successful shadowing others in previous retail jobs, as well as in a volunteer role at a day care center, the hiring manager was uninterested in either the applicant's abilities or in the limited role the job coach would play. The hiring manager repeatedly tried to cut the interview short by telling the job coach in a patronizing tone, "thank you for bringing her here," while the applicant was still in the room. The hiring manager also stated, in the applicant's presence, that the Party City employee who had encouraged the applicant to apply would hire anyone, and would "even hire an ant."

After Party City failed to hire the applicant because of her disability, Party City hired six sales associates in the days immediately after the applicant's interview. For at least two of the hires, it was their first job: one was a 16-year-old and the other was a high school graduate.

The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") prohibits employers from discriminating based on disability and imposes a requirement that employees with disabilities be provided a reasonable accommodation, absent undue hardship on the employer. One of these accommodations can be the use of a job coach.

The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire (EEOC v. Party City Corporation, Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-838) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief. The agency's litigation efforts will be led by Senior Trial Attorney Mark Penzel.

"Federal law requires employers to consider disabled job applicants based on their abilities, not on demeaning stereotypes," said Jeffrey Burstein, regional attorney for the EEOC's New York District Office. "Party City completely failed to do so here."

EEOC's New York district director, Kevin Berry, added, "Employers cannot refuse to offer a reasonable accommodation required by law, absent undue hardship. Here, the job coach, who would only have helped cue the applicant with her job tasks as she learned her job and for whom Party City would not have had to pay, was a completely reasonable accommodation that would have caused it no hardship at all."

EEOC's New York District Office oversees New York, Northern New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the commission is available on its website at www.eeoc.gov.

Insurance Action in the States

In New Hampshire, the Union Leader reports: 

The Senate has voted to keep insurance mandates for midwives, autism services, hearing aids and bariatric surgery — for now.

Senators voted 19-5 to recommend House Bill 309 for further study. The move prevented a vote to pass the bill.

In a passionate debate ahead of the vote, opponents of the bill said it was wrong to force people to pay out of pocket for hearing aids and autism coverage, which can be costly. In addition, they noted that a midwife-assisted birth is generally less costly than a hospital birth.

Supporters, however, argued that every mandate made insurance more expensive for everyone, and for some, unaffordable.

The Kansas Health Institute reports:

After lengthy debate that went into the evening, the Kansas House today endorsed a bill that would require that insurance companies cover autism disorders.

House BIll 2764, as amended during the floor debate, also would require autism coverage by the state's HealtWave program. HealthWave covers children in the Kansas Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance programs.

Estimated cost of the HealthWave provision was about $26 million, with about $12 million of that coming from the State General Fund. The balance would be covered by federal Medicaid dollars.

Some opponents of the measure argued that the annual cost to the state and federal governments could reach $57 million. More precise estimates of the cost weren't available to members when they voted on the measure and some cited that lack of information as good reason to send the bill back to a committee for more study.

A motion to do that however, failed by a margin of almost two to one

Video of floor discussion of the Iowa mandate legislation:

Insurance Legislation in New Hampshire and West Virginia

In New Hampshire, the Union-Leader reports:

Mothers with babies packed a State House hearing room on Thursday to oppose the elimination of a mandate that insurers cover midwife services.

They were joined by the parents of autistic children and advocates for the hearing impaired at a Senate hearing on House Bill 309.

The bill, approved by the House in January, would make insurance coverage for midwife services optional, and it would place limits on bariatric surgery, hearing aids and early intervention services for children with autism.

Supporters of the bill said eliminating insurance mandates would help reduce the cost of health insurance in the state....
A representative of the state Insurance Department estimated that all of the state’s mandates together make up less than 5 percent of premium costs, and that of the mandates being considering for elimination, hearing aids impose the greatest cost, at about 1.6 percent of premiums.

The bill targets mandates enacted over the last four years. The midwife services is the only mandate that would be eliminated outright. Parts of the other mandates would remain, but there would be limits on coverage.

In the case of early intervention services for children with autism, the benefits would be “subject to utilization review” in line with insurance department rules.

In West Virginia, The State Journal reports: 

The Senate Finance Committee, after some debate, moved a bill to the full Senate to provide insurance coverage for children with the disorder.

House Bill 2693 passed during last year's legislative session to provide insurance coverage for children with the disorder. However that bill left a gap in coverage.

A bill introduced during this year's regular session, House Bill 4260, aimed to close that gap. It quickly and unanimously passed the House of Delegates, but stalled in the Senate.

.... 

Jill Scarboro McLaury, a certified behavior analyst, was moved to tears while speaking to the committee.

"I certainly understand how there is a miscommunication about what the intent was last year if you weren't here for those final meetings," she said. "I don't understand how they can refute their own language that clearly says the caps were for ABA."

McLaury pointed to data from other states, including Missouri, with a population about four times the size of West Virginia, reporting that insurance costs increased about one-tenth of 1 percent.

"Assumptions used by states that have independent fiscal consultants are between 10 and 15 pages," she said. "If you look at PEIA and CHIP's notes, you have about a paragraph of their substantiating, I'm sorry, lack of substantiating evidence."

McLaury said claims data from five states show that increases in premiums range about 15 cents to 31 cents per member per month.

Insurance Developments in Utah, West Virginia, and New Hampshire

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

HB272 • A bill to fund treatment for approximately 750 young children with autism moved forward Friday after being approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill has been refined to focus on children between the ages of 2 and 6 with up to 500 children on Medicaid, several hundred who are not on Medicaid (and may be privately insured) and several dozen who are on the Public Employees’ Benefit and Insurance Program.

Elected officials are in negotiation with insurance companies about the possibility of contributing to funding. Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove, R-Garland, the sponsor of HB272, has asked for $6 million in Medicaid dollars.

“Even at 750 we still would be missing some children,” she said, noting that Utah’s population of autistic children is more than 2,000.

AP reports:

Advocates of clarifying West Virginia's autism insurance coverage law are a step closer to success at the Legislature.

The House Finance Committee endorsed a measure Thursday aimed at fixing the 2011 law.

The House Judiciary Committee had advanced the bill last month. It heads to the full House of Delegates for a vote on passage.

Lawmakers agreed last year to require insurers to cover applied behavioral analysis. This treatment is considered critical for many children diagnosed within the autism spectrum of neurological disorders.The pending bill makes clear that yearly and monthly caps on insurance benefits apply only to applied behavioral analysis. Insurance companies argue the limits apply to all autism-related treatment. The bill also fixes technical errors that weren't caught when the 2011 law passed.

Susannah Poe adds at The Charleston Gazette:

Insurance lobbyists have come forward to claim that the change in the final legislation was not in error, that it was always the intent of the bill to include ALL autism treatment under a $30,000 cap. However, the fiscal note summary prepared by these same lobbyists last year states differently, reading "The original legislation has been amended to cover applied behavior analysis in an amount not to exceed $30,000 per individual for three consecutive years, then in an amount not to exceed $2,000 a month."

The Manchester Union-Leader reports:

Near tears, a Merrimack woman pleaded with Senate budget writers yesterday not to end state health insurance mandates that have helped her 4-year-old autistic son regain his functions.

"Please. Stand up for me and my children, and do not touch what little hope and security we have left," said Christine Mostrom, who has two autistic children. "Do not turn away from New Hampshirehttp://www.autismpolicyblog.com/2011/02/repealing-mandate-in-new-hampshire.html's mothers. I urge you to stand in the gap, as we do for our children."

Mostrom and many others testified against Senate Bill 150, which would allow out-of-state insurance companies to sell health insurance in New Hampshire.
The bill's prime sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said he shares the concern about maintaining state insurance mandates, but is also concerned about the limited competition in New Hampshire among insurance providers.

"We have among the highest insurance rates in the country," Bradley said. "We need to get more people into the system in order to lower rates."

A Boy and His Flag

On Constitution Day, a story about a student on the spectrum raises First Amendment issues

In Dover, New Hampshire, Foster's Daily Democrat reports:

An autistic middle school student had his miniature American flag confiscated by school officials Wednesday morning, as they claimed its pointed top could have caused harm to other students.

Theresa Stevens told Foster's her 12-year-old son, Shawn, had brought the flag to school to show his classmates after receiving it as a gift from a family friend whose son was recently deployed to Afghanistan.

"He's proud of it," said Stevens of the 12-inch symbol of patriotism. "He just wanted to show everybody he's proud to be an American."
...
When Shawn was asked why he brought the flag to school, he told Foster's he was trying to rebuild patriotism.

"You don't have to die for your country, you just have to support it," he said.

Stevens said she has an Individualized Education Plan meeting next week with the teachers, paraprofessionals and director of special education services who work with her son. Stevens said she will most definitely discuss Wednesday's incident with those individuals.

WMUR in New Hampshire has further details:

Co-Principal Kimberly Lyndes said the spear point of the flag's stick was the problem.

"A student came to school yesterday with a flag that was rather large and didn't fit inside the backpack," she said. "A staff member felt that it could potentially be dangerous because of the pointy end and took the item and let the student know and the parent know that they took the item and could pick it up.

"It had nothing to do with patriotism or it being a flag. It was about potential danger and school safety."

Stevens accused the school of being inconsistent.

"So can pencils, so can protractors, so can any of the school supplies that they give to these children, and their stance is, 'Well, we don't let them wave them around in class, and your son has autism,'" Stevens said. "Really? That's your stance?"
...

"When somebody shows up with an American flag on American soil at an American school, that's his First Amendment right to do so," Stevens said. "Just because he's 12 doesn't mean he doesn't have constitutional rights."

More on the NH Repealer

The Keene Sentinel reports:

A local Republican legislator says he is trying to undo insurance regulation passed in the last four years while Democrats were in charge.

House Bill 309, solely sponsored by John B. Hunt of Rindge, would repeal a law requiring insurance companies to pay for early intervention autism spectrum disorder treatment. The law went into effect on Jan. 1; its prime sponsor was Suzanne S. Butcher, a former Democratic representative from Keene.

Meanwhile, families and educators attended an Autism and Asperger’s Expo at Antioch University New England Saturday, where autism support advocates denounced the bill.

Kirsten M. Murphy, director of the N. H. Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders and a parent of two autistic children, said the law mandating early intervention autism therapies has further-reaching implications than simple monetary ones.

Out of all young children identified with autism spectrum disorders and treated using early intervention therapies, 47 percent will enter kindergarten at a level equivalent to their peers, and an additional 40 percent will make significant progress, according to Murphy.

Hunt said legislators could ask insurance companies to give them an idea of the new laws’ effects on premiums.

“Now that we have changed leadership, we have a rare opportunity to re-look at all these mandates and get the insurance companies to tell us how much they really do cost,” said Hunt, formerly chairman of the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee, which is hearing the bill.

Hunt said it was appropriate for insurance companies — the businesses regulated by these recently passed laws — to provide information that could enact the repeal of those laws. He did not think the businesses would provide inaccurate or misleading information, he said.

Repealing the Mandate in New Hampshire?

The New Hampshire Hospital Association reports on a bill to repeal the state's autism insurance mandate:

HB 309, repealing certain insurance mandates, proposes to repeal the following services currently required to be offered by health insurance plans in New Hampshire: midwifery services; testing for bone marrow donation; early intervention therapy services; treatment for obesity; diagnosis and treatment of autism; hearing aids; and continuation of group insurance in the event of divorce or legal separation. A hearing on this bill will be held Thursday, Feb 24th in the House Commerce Committee.

See the Autism Speaks writeup of the mandate law, aka Connor's Law.

A letter in the Nashua Telegraph:

I’m 55 years old, only recently diagnosed with Asperger syndrome – a form of high-functioning autism. I’m married and a former partner of a major consultancy – all without such treatment.

Lack of social skills exposed me to sexual abuse as a child, caused several episodes of extended insomnia and isolated me socially until I did learn how to practice social skills in my teens.

Denying autistic kids the skill to connect is equally cruel. It is also fiscally irresponsible. Early treatment is costly, but much less than 50 or more years of institutionalization.

I also hope the political sponsors of HB 309 will recognize that this is political suicide. Autism affects one in 70 families. And we will speak out. Forcefully.

New Hampshire Laws, Insurance, Seclusion & Restraint

Richard A. Cohen and Julia Freeman-Woolpert of the Disabilities Rights Center in Concord NH discuss recent legislation in their state:

Vulnerable children with disabilities got a little safer with the passage of Senate Bill 396, limiting the use of child restraint practices in schools and treatment facilities.

The Disabilities Rights Center has handled a number of disturbing cases recently where children suffered broken bones and other injuries in school and other facilities while being restrained. Expert testimony in support of SB 396 demonstrated that face down restraint can put children at risk of death. Indeed around the country children have died as a result of this type of restraint. The new law bans many dangerous restraint techniques and restricts the use of other types to only emergency situations where the physical safety of the child or others is at risk. The bill also limits handcuffing of children being transported or appearing in court. Gov. Lynch and the New Hampshire Legislature should be commended for passing the bill.

Families of children with autism rejoiced at the passage of House Bill 569, more commonly known as Connor’s Law. The law requires that private health insurance plans in New Hampshire cover prescribed treatments for autism, including speech, occupational, and behavioral therapy.

Early and intensive treatment for autism can improve the outcomes enormously for these children, much as insulin can for a child with diabetes and heart surgery can for a child with a heart condition, yet until this law was passed, the child with autism could be denied insurance coverage for treatment. Michelle Jarvis, Connor’s mother and President of the Autism Society of New Hampshire, noted, “All along, our message has been that a child with autism deserves the same level of coverage as a child seeking treatment for any other medical condition. To do any less would not only be poor healthcare policy, it would be discriminatory.”

More on seclusion & restraint:

• See an earlier story on SB 396.
• See a story on problems in Maine.
• See a story about a court case in Florida.

New Hampshire Insurance Law

AP reports:

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch has signed a law requiring insurers to cover more treatment programs for autistic children.

The new law requires covering behavioral, speech and occupational therapy along with already covered medications, health-related services and psychiatric services when they are part of a plan ordered by a doctor.

More from ASA:

The Autism Society of New Hampshire is pleased to report that autism insurance reform was signed into law by Gov. John Lynch on July 23, 2010, making New Hampshire the 22nd state to pass autism insurance reform.
HB 569-FN (“Connor’s Law) was passed by the New Hampshire Senate on May 5, 2010, after successfully moving through the New Hampshire House on January 6, 2010.

The Autism Society applauds the hard work and dedication of Sen. Margaret "Maggie" Wood Hassan, Rep. Suzanne Butcher, Rep. Susi Nord, Administrative Director of the NH Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders Kirsten Murphy, ASNH President Michelle Jarvis, and countless others in the Granite State that were instrumental in getting “Connor’s Law” passed.

HB 569 is not a new mandate, but rather, the legislation clarifies what “treatment” means under NH’s existing mental health parity law as it is applies to autism spectrum disorders. Treatments that will be covered include habilitative or rehabilitative care, pharmacy care, psychiatric care, psychological care and therapeutic care. It requires insurance companies to cover treatment when prescribed or ordered by a medical professional following the guidelines adopted by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other professional groups. Just like any illness, treatment will be subject to periodic review for medical necessity. There is a maximum benefit of $36,000 for children younger than 1 year old to age 12 and a maximum benefit of $27,000 from age 13-21. Furthermore, HB 569 does not replace existing services. While special education programs may use some of the same types of therapies to help a child learn, this is not done at the same level of intensity or with the same goals as a treatment program. HB 569 states clearly that it should not be interpreted as reducing the obligation that schools have to deliver a free and appropriate education.

Law Enforcement and Autism, Continued

Claudia Kalb writes in Newsweek:

Law enforcement and autism are a volatile mix, and not an uncommon one. “It happens quite regularly, unfortunately,” says Lee Grossman, president of the Autism Society, a grassroots organization based in Bethesda, Md. Decades ago, people with autism and other developmental disorders tended to land in institutions, where they had little interaction with anybody other than family members and staff. Today, autistic children and adults live with their families, go to local schools and, in some cases, get jobs in their communities. The unfortunate downside to this independence, says Grossman, is that “many more individuals on the spectrum are having run-ins with the police department and others, and it’s generally not a very positive experience.”

Autism is a diverse condition, but it is characterized by behaviors—repetitive movements, poor eye contact, sensitivity to lights and noise—that can be misinterpreted as unusual and even disrespectful. Even innocent behaviors can be come off as malicious. Grossman tells the story of an autistic man who loved to ride the bus. One day, he started staring at a female passenger. “She told him to stop, he wouldn’t, and it got uglier and uglier,” says Grossman. Ultimately, the police were called. The man’s crime turned out to be an autistic trait: fixation on a single object. In this case, the man was fascinated by the woman’s dangling earring.

(I would nitpick one line in the story: "One of autism’s defining features is the inability to process even the most mundane social interactions." That is an overstatement. It is more accurate to say that autistic people have an impaired or limited ability to process social interactions, and the extent of this impairment can vary a good deal.)

Police training is one remedy for the problem. Here is an example from New Hampshire:

The Wilton Police Department launched a program during the first week in June called Autism Awareness 9-1-1, in which families of autistic children can let local emergency personnel know about the child’s condition.

The program, coordinated in the Nashua area by Gateways Community Services, is designed to help avoid any potential undue conflict from social misunderstandings between the child and the officer, particularly in instances with lost children where misunderstandings could create conflict.

Wilton Police Chief Brent Hautanen thinks the program will be useful.

“From a law enforcement perspective, the more information we have, the better our response is going to be,” Hautanen said. “If we have a child that’s missing that’s autistic, the faster we can get that information, the better we’ll be able to handle that call.”

Another example from Arkansas:

Police in the area say they regularly interact with people with disabilities, including autism.

But many officers said not having a proper understanding of the disability sometimes makes it difficult for them to do their jobs.

That's why law enforcement officials from all over the state met Monday in Springdale for a special seminar on what autism is and how to work with individuals with autism.

When police officers arrive at a scene, they need to be able to assess the situation, and that includes anyone who might be there when they arrive. A big part of that is recognizing those who might be autistic.

Lt. Will Dawson from the Greenwood Police Department said, “I didn't know that it affects one out of every 110 people."

From the Huffington Post, here is an update on the Neli Latson story:

The disturbing case of Reginald Cornelius Latson, the autistic young man arrested in Virginia last month, has taken an even more disturbing turn. His mother, Lisa Alexander, told an internet-based radio audience Sunday night that Stafford County deputies used racist slurs against her son when they stopped and arrested him May 24.