Regulatory Actions

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the rights of autistic people.  Autism Speaks reports:

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a new guide detailing rules for air carriers accommodating families and individuals with autism.

The Air Carrier Access Act details rules for airline accommodations and protects individuals with disabilities in air travel.

For many families and individuals with autism, traveling requires certain accommodations from the airline industry to provide safe, comfortable flight. For example, the guideline explains that airlines must provide accurate information about what accommodations they can provide individuals with disabilities. It also suggests informing the airline how it may assist you. The airline may be able to provide health, safety, dietary, or sensory accommodations to make travel easier.

In May, a 15-year-old with autism and her family were allegedly removed from a United Airlines flight after experiencing difficulties in accessing needed accommodations. The guideline details when an airline may deny boarding or remove a passenger with a disability.

Disability Scoop reports:

The Obama administration is taking new steps to ensure that people with disabilities don’t face discrimination at the doctor’s office.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has put forward new regulations clarifying protections for people with disabilities when it comes to health care and insurance coverage.

Specifically, the proposal published Tuesday in the Federal Register mandates that health care providers “make reasonable modifications in policies, practices or procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability.”

Autistic People as Screeners

Many posts have discussed autism and employment. Mark Roth continues his series at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

A study published this year by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota found that high-functioning autistic men were just as accurate and almost as fast as non-autistic people in finding weapons in X-ray images of baggage.

More important, their performance improved as time went on, particularly in correctly identifying bags that had no weapons.

Senior author Marlene Behrmann, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon, said "we were able to demonstrate statistically that the individuals with autism stayed more true to the task compared with people who became distracted more easily."

The study is part of a growing push to find jobs that autistic people may actually perform better than so-called neurotypical individuals.

Autism and Airport Security

Autism overlaps with a wide array of public policy issues, including many that one would not initially expect. Take airport security, for example. Lisa Black writes at The Chicago Tribune:

The TSA has worked with 70 disability-related groups to develop its screening techniques for people with physical and hidden conditions, such as autism, said James Fotenos, agency spokesman. Family members or traveling companions should notify security officers of any disability that may call for special assistance or privacy, he said.

...

Travelers with autism or other hidden disabilities face different challenges.

Experts advise families to arrive at the airport early and inform the TSA agents about a disability. Parents can prepare a child by showing them pictures of the terminal in advance and by bringing along comforting foods or activities.

"Oftentimes, children with autism become quite anxious when faced with new situations, especially around the holiday time. There are already things that are different," said Brian Freedman, clinical director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.

Sometimes things do not go well. Consider an incident a few weeks ago, via WVEC (Hampton Roads, VA):

Problems predated the recent enhanced security procedures. See a post from January 2010.