Johnson and Bigtree

 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.  Case in point, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), who appeared with notorious antivaxxer Del Bigtree.

Wisconsin, for the love of all that's holy, do better https://t.co/bMd7nXeWIs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2022

Disenfranching People with Disabilities

 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."

Barbara Sprunt at NPR:

Nationally, the 2020 election saw a big uptick in voters with disabilities casting ballots, as many states took steps to ease access amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The share of people with disabilities who reported having a problem voting dropped from 26.1% in 2012 to 11.4% in 2020, according to a study from Rutgers University.

But now, many voters with disabilities are warily following efforts across the country by Republican-led states to tighten voting rules following the 2020 election, in what conservatives say are steps to shore up election integrity.

In Wisconsin, the crux of the legal case over drop boxes and returning ballots is the interpretation of a portion of state law that details the absentee ballot return process.

"The envelope shall be mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots," the statute reads.

Rick Esenberg, president of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which represented the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit, says the law is explicit.

"I think [the court] ought to read the law as it is written, and say that the law means what it says," he says.

But many voters with disabilities — along with others who live in congregate settings, like those incarcerated or in nursing homes — say a strict interpretation of the law leaves them behind.

"I do feel like I'm being punished just because I'm physically not able to put a ballot in a mailbox," says Stacy Ellingen, a regular absentee voter in Oshkosh.

She has athetoid cerebral palsy and uses an app on her phone that takes her typed text and speaks her words aloud.

"My caregivers help me fill out the ballot and put it in the mailbox. It's literally the only way for me to vote," she says. "If this stands, I wouldn't be able to vote for the people actually making the decisions that affect my life."

Program for Autistic Students at Marquette

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the growing number of college students on the spectrum. Some colleges and universities have programs to assist them.  At Crux, John Lavenburg writes of a program at Marquette:

Entering its third year, On Your Marq was created as an interdisciplinary approach to help university students on the autism spectrum navigate college life. In the program’s first year it served five students. The number has since tripled to 16 for the upcoming academic year.

Each student in the program has a peer mentor and graduate coach. Emily Raclaw, the program’s director, described the peer mentor as sort of a social navigator for the students. The graduate coach, she said, checks-in with the students about their mental/emotional health and advises them academically.

The program also holds a seminar each semester that utilizes the university’s occupational therapy department, rehab counseling program and graduate staff to talk with the students about different social and employment skills. Marquette professors, the housing department, career services and the writing center are others it works with.

“Pretty much everywhere on campus our students have someone they can go to or someone they can talk to that’s going to understand them and not treat them like they’re weird because they’re different because they’re not,” Raclaw told Crux. “They’re different, not less.”

Autistic Person on Madison School Board

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."  Some are seeking and holding elected office.

At Education Week, Corey Mitchell interviews  Nicki Vander Meulen, an autistic person serving on the Madison (WI) Metropolitan School District Board of Education.

How do you connect with your constituents?

I'm the only board member who visited all 50-plus schools in our district. I've met with parents, [parent teacher organizations] and the students themselves. I need to know how their lives work and I need to come to them. They don't need to come to me. We have this assumption, if you have a problem, you have to [go] to the board. No, the board [should] come to you. We're the public servant, not the other way around. I've actually [met] with large groups, constituents of very different backgrounds because I'm willing to go wherever they need me to go and meet. If I could do that without a driver's license ... I don't see why others can't.

Are accommodations and attention given to your needs as a school board member?

Yes, they are because I have a district that will provide the accommodations, but not every [school] does. I want to bring it up to the forefront that this is a major issue, It's a civil rights issue, it's an equal rights issue. Sometimes the message doesn't get there.

(Editor's Note: In December, the Hartford Courant wrote about Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez, a former Enfield, Conn., school board member with autism. She sued the school board, alleging she was discriminated against because of her disability.)

Would you encourage other people with disabilities to serve on their local school boards?

Absolutely, I find this incredibly enriching. In order to have a seat at the table you have to play a role politically, as well. These [are] major, major decisions on how resources are used and how children are educated. The only way you can fix the system is from the inside out. You need to hear unrepresented voices and oftentimes individuals with disabilities have little or no contact and that needs to change.

A Voting Barrier Falls in Wisconsin

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

Molly Beck at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Voters with disabilities will no longer be required to state their name and address — a requirement advocates for people with disabilities said was humiliating and even preventing some from casting ballots.

Gov. Tony Evers signed into law a bill Friday that removes the requirement for people who are unable to say their name and address because of a disability. Instead, poll workers will rely on the voter's identification card and allow another person accompanying the voter to say the voter's name and address.

“We have to make sure voting is fair and accessible, and that everyone has the opportunity to cast their vote at the ballot box,” Evers said in a statement.

During the 2018 general election, more than six people contacted Disability Rights Wisconsin — an advocacy group for people with disabilities — about incidents during which voters who were deaf or had a developmental disability could not vote or were shamed by poll workers.

We have to make sure voting is fair and accessible, and that everyone has the opportunity to cast their vote at the ballot box. Proud to sign AB 168 today to remove barriers at the ballot box for folks with disabilities. pic.twitter.com/V1Ea3jEwKp

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) November 22, 2019

Autism in a Wisconsin Senate Race

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in political campaigns.   The book also looks at the issue of insurance coverage.

An October 17 release from the Wisconsin Democratic Party:

Today, Wisconsin health care professionals gathered outside of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa to highlight Republican U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir's record of repeatedly siding with insurance companies over Wisconsinites in need of health care coverage.

At the event, the health care professionals drew attention to Vukmir in 2007 blocking two separate bills that would have required insurance companies to cover Wisconsinites' autism treatments. First, Vukmir used her position as chair of the Assembly Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform to block and ultimately kill 2007 Assembly 417, a bill to require "health insurance coverage of treatment for autism spectrum disorders," without so much as holding a hearing a vote or hearing on the measure. Then, Vukmir worked to sabotage 2007 Senate Bill 178, a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate to expand autism treatment coverage, ultimately voting to table and kill it.

Former Wisconsin state Rep. Sandy Pasch:

"Vukmir talks about her record as a nurse but she's always voted against taking care of people [...] In 2007, Vukmir blocked two separate bills that would have required insurance companies to cover Wisconsinites' autism treatments. [...] How could anyone, let alone a nurse, oppose expanding coverage for Wisconsinites with autism? It's shocking. But, then again, this is the same Leah Vukmir who tried to block oral chemo coverage and voted against hearing aid coverage for kids."

Milwaukee Official Screws Up on Vaccines and Autism

 In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the discredited theory that vaccines cause autism.

Rebecca Klopf reports at WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee:

After she was criticized for stating the "science is still out" on the link between vaccines and autism on a radio show, Milwaukee interim health commissioner Patricia McManus, walked back her comments in a statement to the Milwaukee Common Council.

“My daughter received all of her immunizations as a child, and all of my grandchildren continue to do so as well. I do not question the science," McManus said in a prepared statement Friday. "I, as most public health professionals and doctors, believe that the best thing to do is to get immunized.”

McManus made the comments on the radio show The Forum on Thursday, saying, “I mean, there’s still people who believe it. And so I don’t know. I think the science is still out. I think that’s a decision that these families are going to have to make on their own at this point.”

"The information that is out there, especially from CDC they basically say there's been no way of knowing that there has been a linkage between autism and MMR," McManus also said.

A statement from CDC said the opposite: "All reputable scientific studies have found no relationship between MMR vaccine and autism."

Medicaid Cuts and Disability Services

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

At NPR, Alison Kodjak reports on Our Place Day Services, a day center for adults with disabilities, in Slinger, Wisconsin.

"We help men and women become the men and women they were meant to be," says Donna Ellenbecker, director of Our Place.

But she's worried about the Republican plan to overhaul Medicaid.
\
All but one of her 33 clients pay for their classes and care at Our Place with Medicaid dollars. Wisconsin's Medicaid system includes a program called IRIS that grants people with disabilities a budget, based on their level of need, to use for services that help them live in the community.

The state's approach is part of a national trend in recent decades to move people with severe developmental disabilities out of institutional settings by providing the support they and their families need to live more independently – either with their families, in community-based group homes or even on their own.
...

Ellenbecker worries that if the current Republican plan is passed, or the kinds of budget cuts Trump is proposing go through, the money for those support services just won't be there.

"It's a 25 percent cut you know, and a 25 percent cut it is going to affect these programs," she says. "There's no way that a 25 percent cut can come out of any other program — except long-term care."

That's because many support services are considered optional under the law that governs Medicaid. So, if state lawmakers are forced to choose between say, job coaches, and traditional medical care, the job coaching is likely to lose out.

The Importance of Medicaid

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

Today is Medicaid Day of Action. Across the country, Americans are protesting Trumpcare cuts to Medicaid.

Details here.

At NPR, Alison Kodjak reports on an autism family in Glendale, Wisconsin:

While Medicaid is best known as a health care program for poor people, more than 80 percent of its budget goes to care for the elderly, the disabled and children, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Only 15 percent goes to health care for able-bodied adults.

The program has been growing in recent years and it now makes up almost 10 percent of federal spending. That's why it's the number one target in President Trump's proposed budget, and figures prominently in the Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act. Some estimates suggest the program could be cut by more than 1 trillion dollars over 10 years.

After three years of intense therapy, Ben now goes to his local public school and works on grade level in math and English. He no longer works with his private therapist or uses Medicaid benefits.

"We just decided not to reapply," Nancy says. "The need had been met."

President Trump and Republicans in Congress have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid's budget over the next decade, and Nancy and Dan Gapinski worry that the services they used for Ben won't be there if he needs them in the future, or be there for other families.

"I don't know what Ben will need in his lifetime," Nancy Gapinski says. "Our goals for him are very much like our goals for our daughter Zoe. We really want for them to be active, engaged citizens.

"In Idaho Falls, ID, Bryan Clark reports at The Post-Register:

More than 100 people rallied Monday in front of the offices of Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo. They were there to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid under the American Health Care Act, which recently passed the House but has yet to be taken up by the Senate. Both Simpson and Rep. Raúl Labrador voted for the bill.

The bill is projected to leave tens of millions uninsured while achieving small deficit reductions and large tax cuts for high-income households.
...
Holly Giglio is the mother of an 18-year-old boy with Down’s syndrome and autism. He, too, is nonverbal. Giglio said despite her family earning a good income, many services her child needs, including services in school and therapy, would be unattainable without Medicaid.

“My husband works at the site,” she said. “My husband makes decent money. We have excellent health care. But we needed Medicaid.”

James Steed, a member of the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities who is himself disabled, blasted the AHCA as a measure that would do great harm to people like him.

“Eight-hundred billion dollars — that’s what they want to take away from Medicaid,” Steed told the crowd. “That takes away people’s ability to live on their own. … That takes away the possibility of them living a life free, with choice and control of their own lives.”

The AHCA is, in fact, projected to cut $834 billion from Medicaid over the next decade.

School Choice in Wisconsin and the Nation

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

At The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Alan J. Borsuk notes that Betsy DeVos is in line to be Education Secretary and says that  Wisconsin offers parallels to what is happening nationally.

Just as the once-every-two-years state budget gets rolling, Republicans have gained a more dominant hand in the Legislature. Gov. Scott Walker is a strong choice backer. And the makeup of the state Supreme Court makes legal challenges to anything the Republicans do difficult.

We already have hefty private school voucher programs in Milwaukee and Racine and a growing voucher scene in the rest of the state, plus a new special-education voucher program, and a convoluted but fairly lively charter school scene, particularly in Milwaukee. What more could be done?

It’s a time when school choice insiders are pulling out their wish lists and brain storming. The special ed vouchers and the statewide voucher program could be given bigger pushes. Maybe something could happen to increase the number of charter schools statewide, but charters always seem to play back-up to private schools in state politics.

Ideas such as “education savings accounts,” discussed in this column recently, are increasingly likely to emerge. Such accounts could offer parents more flexible ways to select education programs for their children, potentially including several providers. No one so far has gotten specific about what this could mean, but there’s serious interest.

If Washington unleashes a lot of money for school choice, that might bring some new federal aid to Wisconsin to support ideas like these.

Public school leaders and advocates nationwide are generally appalled by the DeVos pick and what it portends.

They have several reasons to be concerned in Wisconsin. Here are two:

What will any increase in school choice options and funding mean for state aid to public schools?

And will the Trump administration put together that $20 billion school choice fund by cutting other federal education programs, as some suggest? Reducing major areas of federal spending (particularly the Title 1 program for low-income students and federal special education aid), could mean less money for public schools, especially those serving large numbers of poor or disabled children.

Flu Shots

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

At WKOW in Madison, WI, Matt Cash reports on a physician who is seeing more patient decline flu vaccines:

Dr. Michael Trias with SSM Health Dean Medical Group's east side clinic says health care providers feel strongly about people getting the flu vaccine every year to prevent and limit the impact in our community.

The virus kills thousands more every year, even healthy people.
...
Trias says that it's not true that someone will get the flu after getting the shot, as it cannot cause influenza. He says that some people are also worried about a potential link to autism. In recent years, several large scientific studies have determined that the preservative in the vaccine does not lead to serious neurological problems, including autism.

Trump has promoted the debunked autism-vaccine theory.  Are we seeing a Trump effect?

Special Ed Vouchers in Wisconsin

Christina Samuels reports at Education Week:

Wisconsin Gov. (and recently announced Republican presidential candidate) Scott Walker signed a budget bill Sunday that will allow certain students with disabilities to use public dollars to pay for private school.

The provision will start in the 2016-17 school year and will be worth $12,000 in that first year. It can be used by students who attended a Wisconsin public school for at least one year and who had been rejected from enrolling as a nonresident in another school district under Wisconsin's open-enrollment policy.

Nonresident students can be denied a transfer for several reasons, including a lack of space, a history of habitual truancy or expulsion, or requirement of special education services that aren't currently offered by the district they want to transfer into. (The state's education department is facing a lawsuit that says the Wisconsin students with disabilities have been denied open-enrollment placements solely because of their need for special services.)

In the new voucher program, private schools would have to agree to implement the child's individualized education program, as modified by agreement between the student's parents and the private school. Also, the child's district of residence will be required to evaluate the child every three years, unless the parent and the district agree otherwise. The Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, a nonpartisan agency that provides fiscal analysis to state lawmakers, has a document that spells out all of the provisions of the Wisconsin special education voucher program.

"Autistic Child" Street Signs

Cara Spoto reports at The Journal Times (Racine, WI) about Erin and Jason Krencisz, who are seeking an "Autistic Child" street sign to protect their son.

The family has installed alarms to keep Markus from leaving the house unattended and “bolting out into the street,” but they are hoping a request they currently have before the city’s Traffic Commission will add an extra layer of protection for their son.

The couple has asked the commission to allow for the installation of an “Autistic Child” sign on their north-side block.

Similar to “Blind Child” or “Deaf Child” signs, the warning sign would be aimed at telling motorists that there is a child in the area with a disability who might not be as aware of traffic dangers as other kids.

Erin Krencisz, 33, who is friends with other mothers of children on the autism spectrum, said she decided to ask about getting a sign on her block after hearing that a friend of hers had one installed in Pennsylvania.

“Safety is an issue with him all the time,” she said. “I just thought, ‘you know what? I am doing this.’ ”

Fifth District Alderman Melissa Kaprelian-Becker, who has helped the couple with their request, thinks the request for a sign makes sense.

“There are many different forms of disabilities,” Kaprelian-Becker said. “You need to caution drivers.”

A few months ago, Portsmouth, Virginia, denied a similar request.  WAVY-TV reported:


Last year, WXIX in Cincinnati reported :

An Alexandria [Kentucky] mother has made a difference in her neighborhood that will help other families with children who are battling autism.

Katie Ruschman took simple steps to have an 'Autistic Child Area' sign put on her street; the first in the city.

As the mother of a 5-year old son with autism, Katie wanted to get the word out to drivers that an autistic child is living on this street.

Two months ago, Katie reached out to her friend Andy Schabell, who also serves on Alexandria City Council.

Autism Stabilizes in WI Schools

Reuters reports:

Autism rates could be leveling off at just above one percent of children, Wisconsin researchers suggest.

Between 2002 and 2008, they found the number of kids in the state's special education autism category nearly doubled. But the increase was only seen in those schools that started out with very few autistic kids, hinting that the statewide rates may be stabilizing.

...

The new study hints that at least some of the increase could be due to schools putting more and more kids in the autism category, said Matthew Maenner, a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who worked on the new study.

"The prevalence of autism in special education doesn't seem to be the same everywhere, and it doesn't seem to be increasing at the same rate everywhere," he said.

The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, show that the statewide rate of children receiving special education for autism went from five to nine cases per 1,000 over seven years.

Not all of these kids may have a medical diagnosis of autism, but Maenner said data on enrollment in special education programs are often used as a proxy for the prevalence of disabilities.

Schools varied widely in the number of autistic children they had. But over time, the gap narrowed from a spread of more than 24 times to less than two.

The schools with more than one percent autistic kids at the beginning of the study period saw little or no change.

Dr. John Harrington, an autism expert who was not involved in the research, said it looked as if the autism rate could be stabilizing.

"As you get better at identifying something, your numbers get less varied," he told Reuters Health. "Finally we can look at these kids and say, they are not just odd, they have a diagnosis."

Special Ed in Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports (h/t Disability Scoop):

Special education has been a critical shortage area in MPS for years, exemplified by the fact that not one special-education teacher was included in the 482 layoff notices that went out in June. In fact, the district has hired 52 new fully certified special education teachers, said Karen Jackson, MPS director of human resources.

There aren't enough fully licensed special education teachers to go around, so the district leans on alternative-route teacher certification programs that allow teachers to work toward full licensure while teaching with "emergency" credentials.

...

All told, a quarter of Milwaukee's 1,100 special-education teachers last year held emergency licenses, reflecting a large national problem in finding, training and retaining such teachers.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there's a national shortage of 45,000 highly qualified special-education teachers, although determining who counts as highly qualified isn't straightforward.

About 11% of special-education classrooms in the U.S. aren't led by a highly qualified teacher, the department noted in 2008.

Attrition in these positions is high, with one out of seven special-education teachers quitting each year. Nearly one in five Milwaukee students receives special-education services. Yet the city's special-education students lag behind their counterparts elsewhere in the state. In 2009, only 17% of Milwaukee's sixth-graders receiving special education were proficient or advanced in math, and only 15% achieved those levels in reading. Statewide, 37% of students with disabilities were proficient or advanced in math and 44% were at those levels in reading.

"There's no doubt that there's a challenge filling special-education positions," said Pat Yahle, director of special education for Milwaukee Public Schools. "The more challenged the students are, the more challenged the teacher is."

The same is true nationally. Massachusetts granted almost 1,000 teaching waivers last year to allow districts to hire teachers who weren't formally licensed to work with special-education students. At least 22 states have some sort of alternative-certification program for individuals with no previous teaching experience to enter special-education teaching, many of which require no more than a bachelor's degree and a background check.

Madison, Wisconsin

The New York Times reports:

Families with children with autism and developmental disabilities move from all over the country for the Madison schools. Kristi Jacobsen, whose son Jonathan has autism, moved from Omaha several years ago. She and her three children live here full time, while her husband, who has a financial business in Omaha, commutes back and forth.

“It’s a sacrifice,” Ms. Jacobsen said. “But Jonathan’s made such progress. They give him every opportunity to be part of the community.”

Lisa Pugh’s family moved from Wichita, Kan., for their daughter Erika, 11. A year and half ago Ms. Pugh took a job in Washington, but last month the family returned because, Ms. Pugh said, they missed Madison’s schools.

Build it and they will come. Nationally, about 12 percent of students are identified as disabled, but in Madison 17.5 percent are, according to John Harper, who oversees special education. Mr. Harper said that 88 percent of elementary students with disabilities were fully included in classes, along with 81 percent of middle school students and 63 percent of high school students. Most of the rest have a mix of general and special education classes; fewer than 5 percent are separate.

David Riley of the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative said Madison was one of the “big three” leaders in successfully implementing inclusion, along with the schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., and Clark County, Nev.

While it costs Madison $23,000 to educate a child with autism (to pay for extra support staff members) versus $12,000 for a typical child, Colleen Capper, a University of Wisconsin professor, said inclusion was cheaper than segregating students.