Vaccines and Kennedys

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has helped spread this dangerous falsehood.

Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Repesentative Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Maeve Kennedy McKean at Politico:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—Joe and Kathleen’s brother and Maeve’s uncle—is part of this campaign to attack the institutions committed to reducing the tragedy of preventable infectious diseases. He has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines.
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No matter what you might have read on social media, there is no scientific basis to allegations that vaccines against HPV pose a serious health threat. And numerous studies from many countries by many researchers have concluded that there is no link between autism and vaccines.

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President Kennedy signed the Vaccination Assistance Act in 1962 to, in the words of a CDC report, “achieve as quickly as possible the protection of the population, especially of all preschool children ... through intensive immunization activity.” In a message to Congress that year, Kennedy said: “There is no longer any reason why American children should suffer from polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, or tetanus … I am asking the American people to join in a nationwide vaccination program to stamp out these four diseases.”

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Those who delay or refuse vaccinations, or encourage others to do so, put themselves and others, especially children, at risk. It is in all our interests to make sure that immunizations reach every child on the globe through safe, effective and affordable vaccines. Everyone must communicate the benefits and safety of vaccines, and advocate for the respect and confidence of the institutions which make them possible. To do otherwise risks even further erosion of one of public health’s greatest achievements.

From Matt Carey at LBRB:

To the Kennedys: I am a father. I have an autistic child. Robert Kennedy positions himself as an ally, a champion of parents like myself. Let me make this clear: Robert Kennedy does not speak for me. He does not speak for more than a few autism parents. He certainly doesn’t speak my son or other autistics. He has been part of the effort to weaponize fear of disability to frighten people about vaccines. As such, he has added to the stigma my son faces.

There is another aspect to this you may not be aware of: the anti-vaccine community is closely tied to the worst in the alternative medicine movement. Robert Kennedy regularly speaks at autism parent conventions where therapies that can only be called abusive are promoted as “cures for vaccine injury”. Mr. Kennedy could speak out against these therapies. He could stand up and make himself heard and stop this abuse. Instead, he has remained silent.

Employment Programs

n The Politics of Autism, I discuss the employment of adults with autism and other disabilities. Many posts have discussed programs to provide them with training and experience.

Beth Pinsker at Reuters:

EY is among a handful of major companies recruiting and hiring individuals with autism spectrum disorders and supporting them at the office. These jobs tend to focus on specific technical skills that can suit individuals on the spectrum who are challenged by social interactions.

The numbers are small so far - Microsoft has about dozens involved in its program, while Deloitte just hired eight into its inaugural round. Dell started with three hires last summer and is doubling this year.

The hiring need, on the other hand, is exponential. Some 1.1 million computing-related jobs are expected by 2024, but U.S. graduation rates are not nearly keeping pace, says Lou Candiello, head of military and disability recruiting programs at Dell. “We need to think different about attracting talent,” Candiello said.

With an estimated global population of 70 million on the autism spectrum - 80 percent of whom are unemployed or severely underemployed - the neurodiverse community is a huge pool to tap.

In aggregate, programs for autistic workers are helping about 200 people a year, while thousands more graduate high school and head “straight to their couches,” said Tara Cunningham, chief executive of Specialisterne USA, a nonprofit organization that helped launch the Autism @ Work network with Microsoft, EY, JPMorgan Chase and SAP. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands more graduate and never enter the workforce.

Jared Lindzon at Fast Company:

Ultra Testing [is] a New York-based software testing and quality assurance startup that employs over 60 workers remotely across 20 states, 75% of whom are on the autism spectrum. Not only was the company open to hiring neurodiverse employees, but it actively sought them out.
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“We’re going up against global IT firms and performing significantly better,” says Ultra Testing’s cofounder and CEO Rajesh  Anandan, citing contracts won away from IBM and Capgemini. “We’re staffing these teams with fantastically capable talent who just haven’t had a fair shot before.”

Anandan founded Ultra Testing alongside his former M.I.T. roommate Art Shectman after discovering research on the overlooked strengths common among autistic individuals. Anandan’s wife, who worked with autistic children at a community mental health clinic in Oakland, had also pointed out how much energy is spent trying to improve the skills that are lacking rather than nurturing the children’s often remarkable natural talents.

“Individuals on the autism spectrum are more likely to have strengths around pattern recognition, logical reasoning ability, enhanced focus, and so on,” says Anandan. ...
Despite these strengths, however, only 35% of 18-year-olds with autism attend college, and only 15% of those who graduate find employment. As a result, nearly 80% of young adults with autism work part-time, earning an average salary of $9.11 per hour, according to Integrate Autism Employment Advisors, a nonprofit that helps those on the autism spectrum find employment.

"Sorcery"

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.  One result of this corrosive myth is the recent upsurge of measles outbreaks.

New #vaccine exemption @TexasDSHS numbers tell much of the story. I'll tell the rest: Children of #Texas have been placed in harm's way for the financial gain of special & outside interest groups. Calling on our TX elected leaders to say "NO MAS" and stand up for our children! pic.twitter.com/60coHonYtx

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) May 7, 2019

Make the case for your sorcery to consumers on your own dime. Like every other business. Quit using the heavy hand of government to make your business profitable through mandates and immunity. It’s disgusting.

— Jonathan Stickland (@RepStickland) May 7, 2019

I deeply appreciate everyone’s support today, including @HoustonChron @ChronMed never thought I would see a #Texas legislator launch an unfounded personal attack. Time for some House ethics rules (and some adult supervision) https://t.co/QHsGB2K0Wa via @houstonchron

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) May 7, 2019

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In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.  One result of this corrosive myth is the recent upsurge of measles outbreaks.

From CDC:

The states that have reported cases to CDC are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, and Washington.

*Cases as of December 29, 2018. Case count is preliminary and subject to change.

**Cases as of May 3, 2019. Case count is preliminary and subject to change. Data are updated every Monday.

Dr. Richard Pan, a California state senator, writes at LAT:

Some of the blame rests with unethical doctors, who are willing to take patients’ money and grant inappropriate medical exemptions to misinformed families, thereby putting other children at risk. A Voice of San Diego investigation of medical exemptions at San Diego Unified School District showed that almost a third were issued by one doctor who advertised medical exemptions. Two other physicians who issued large numbers of medical exemptions are on probation with the Medical Board of California.

The state Legislature, of which I am a member, has an opportunity to greatly improve the situation. Senate Bill 276, sponsored by the California Medical Assn. and the California American Academy of Pediatrics, would require review by public health officials before medical exemptions from vaccination requirements are approved. It would also create a database of medical exemption requests so the state’s medical board can better investigate unethical physicians.

Thirty years ago, measles outbreaks were caused by insufficient access to vaccines; today they are caused by misinformation and fueled by doctors who should know better. The World Health Organization recently declared vaccine refusal a global health threat, noting that it has fueled measles outbreaks and deaths around the world. Last year, Europe had 83,000 confirmed cases of measles and 72 deaths. And the U.S. is now at risk of joining the failed state of Venezuela as the only country in the Americas to lose its “measles elimination” status.

Openly Embracing the Vaccine-Autism Myth

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

A week ago, a Louisiana state senator linked vaccines to autism on the floor of the chamber. Sam Karlin reports at The Advocate:

State Sen. John Milkovich, a Shreveport Democrat, used a bill that would expand a voluntary statewide immunization database as an opportunity to launch into a diatribe about vaccines, which he suggested are dangerous and cause autism.

Vaccines, which do not cause autism, are “incredibly well studied” because of the “myths” surrounding their links with autism, said Dr. Joe Kanter, assistant state health officer with the Louisiana Department of Health.

 “We’re trying really hard to counter that with outreach and education,” Kanter said.
Milkovich claimed “autism did not exist” when he was growing up, and that “tissue from aborted babies is now used in vaccines.” He also suggested aluminum and mercury in vaccines are dangerous.

“Many of you may know some of the leading researchers in America say that autism is a result of vaccination,” Milkovich said. “Did you know tissue from aborted babies is now used in vaccines. Did you know that vaccines use aluminum which is shown to be a neurotoxin? Did you know vaccines in America is preserved often with mercury, which is beyond neurotoxic?”

Jonathon Freeman at myarklamiss.com:

"It is not that vaccines are causing Autism. We just gone from a very small criteria of what is Autism to a larger spectrum," said Lindsey Fortenberry, nurse practitioner Health Care Express.
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Addressing one of those misconceptions of mercury being in vaccinations, Fortenberry said Milkovich was refering to a perservative ingredient used in making vaccines called Thimerosal that allows for larger quantities to be shipped. However, Thimerosal was removed from all vaccines in 2001. Except for the multi-vial dose of the flu vaccine.

"In the year 2000, one in 150 children were diagnosed with Autism. As of this year, about one and 68 children are diagnosed with Autism. Now if you related that to my comment that Thimerosal was removed from all vaccines in 2001 and we've seen an almost double fold in the amount of cases of Autism. That doesn't really correlate well. I would ask the Senator not only show where that research came from to show that the Thimerosal causing these problems when there's been no Thimerosal in these vaccines since 2001. I think that's the most important thing, if you ever speak out about something just to know what you're talking about and to make sure your source is reliable and be very educated on what you're speaking about before you speak about it," Fortenberry said.
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According to the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, several vaccines, including the one for chickenpox, are produced by growing the virus inside of human cells. However, those human cells come from two cell lines from that were obtained legally in the 1960s. Since then, the cells grow independently and do not require further cell lines. They were descendent cells, not the cells of aborted fetuses.

Autism Politics is Like Faculty Politics on Crystal Meth

 In The Politics of Autism, I write:

The most basic questions trigger angry arguments. For instance, into what category do we put autism in the first place? In 2013, President Obama said that “we’re still unable to cure diseases like Alzheimer's or autism or fully reverse the effects of a stroke.” The language of “disease” and “cure” offends some in the autism community. “We don’t view autism as a disease to be cured and we don’t think we need fixing,” says Ari Ne’eman of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. “We do feel comfortable with the word disability because we understand what it means.” From this perspective, autism is difference that requires accommodation, not an illness that requires eradication. Adherents of this position liken autism to homosexuality, which psychiatrists once deemed to be a  disorder. Conversely, some parents take offense at opposition to a cure. “Anyone with the mental and verbal ability to challenge autism research is not autistic on a scale that I care to recognize,” writes autism parent James Terminello. “Opposition to finding a cure is particularly hurtful to parents who still mourn the loss of the child that could have been. A line has been crossed.”

Alisa Opar at The Washington Post:

On one side are parents of autistic children with severe traits — including intellectual disability, limited language ability and self-harm — who say autism is a medical condition that needs often-intense treatment.

On the other side are supporters of “neurodiversity,” who maintain that the condition represents a neurological difference and a disability — one that society should accept and accommodate rather than try to prevent or cure.

The article notes the founding of the National Council on Severe Autism.

“There’s a wide abyss between someone who is very mildly impaired and someone who is really severely impaired with intellectual disability and all the different kinds of comorbid conditions that tend to cluster at that end of the spectrum,” says Amy Lutz, a founding member of the organization and mother of Jonah, 20, who has severe autism and is prone to aggression and self-harm. “There’s no one speaking directly for these families and about this severe end of the spectrum.”

Many self-advocates have responded with anger to the organization’s creation. “NCSA lifts up and advances depictions of autism, which paint autistic people as burdens, as toxic and as catastrophes,” says Julia Bascom, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “These attitudes harm us, increase stigma and misunderstanding, and make life harder for everyone, including our families.”

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 The controversy over the NCSA gets at a central point of contention in the autism wars: Is autism a difference, diagnosis, disorder, disease or disability? These are the “D-words” that really matter in the autism community, says Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge...Which word someone uses to define autism is more than an intellectual exercise. It affects how the public views people on the spectrum and their quality of life, as well as access to job placement programs, housing and health care.

Measles Outbreaks: Blame Wakefield RFK, Jr., and Trump

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

LAT editorial:

Andrew Wakefield, a British scientist, may be more responsible for the current outbreaks than any other person because of a paper he published in 1998 falsely linking vaccines to autism. The paper was later discredited but it was too late. This false narrative was seized upon by a few irresponsible people opposed to vaccination and has proved as durable, and deadly, as measles itself. Fears about the safety of the vaccinations are driving outbreaks around the globe.

It doesn’t seem to matter that studies have shown again and again — and again — that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is safe and does not cause autism. Some parents continue to believe that vaccination is a bigger risk to the health of their kids than measles. That’s not just magical thinking; it’s reckless.

Thankfully, public concern about the return of measles is growing. Facebook, one of the most prolific vectors in measles misinformation transmission, is actively working to curtail anti-vaccination propaganda on its platforms. Health officials are ramping up vaccination education and lawmakers in California and other states are tightening up loose childhood immunization requirements.

At Texas Monthly, Christopher Hooks reports on a Texas lecture by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Lights in half the conference hall go off as Kennedy fiddles with his projector screen—in other words, his speech plunges the room into darkness. He begins by addressing recent measles outbreaks across the country. Doctors say the outbreaks are caused by parents refusing to vaccinate their children for the disease, largely because of a now-debunked study that ties the MMR vaccine to autism. “The drop in measles occured before the vaccine was introduced,” Kennedy says, pointing to a blurry chart. “The thing that cured measles was nutrition and clean water, not the vaccine.” Tuberculosis and scurvy had been largely eradicated through similar methods without vaccines, so why was the MMR vaccine necessary? Heads nodded.

Many vaccines are for illnesses that simply aren’t a problem anymore, Kennedy explains in a croaking voice that has a hint of the Jimmy Stewart quaver. “I didn’t grow up with the terror of rotavirus. I had never heard of it,” he says. “It’s basically mild diarrhea.” In fact, Kennedy declares, it’s vaccines that are responsible for the rise in just about every condition you could think of — asthma, SIDS, encephalopathy, Bell’s palsy, autism. Big Pharma had faked safety studies by putting poison in placebos during clinical studies, ensuring that they had negative effects too.

And then there is Trump, who has never retracted his many statements and tweets linking vaccines to autism. 

Texas Lawmaker on the Spectrum

n 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"

Lauren McGaughy reported last week at The Dallas Morning News:

A Texas lawmaker spoke publicly for the first time Thursday about his struggle with autism.

Rep. Briscoe Cain revealed he has Asperger's Syndrome during a speech on the House floor marking Autism Awareness Month. Flanked by his colleagues at the front microphone of the chamber, the Deer Park Republican said it was time for him to tell his story.

"I, along with countless others who experience these challenges brought on by Asperger's and autism, communicate and express myself in a way that's different from others. If I don't maintain eye contact with you, it's not an intentional nonverbal cue of disrespect. Body language, reading it, and appropriate use of it does not come naturally for those on the spectrum," Cain said.

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 "Members, right now I suspect many of you are thinking to yourself, 'So that explains it.' And yes, your assumptions are correct — that's why I'm highly intelligent," Cain joked. "The media doesn't often get it right, Fox News included. But when they portray every person with Asperger's as some sort of eccentric genius, well, then, they probably got it right. ... The bottom line is if I have to go to the back mike with a point of order that might potentially derail your bill, it's probably just a big misunderstanding. So just go with it.

ASD Diagnosis May Be Stable as Early as 14 Months

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss evaluation and diagnosis.

Karen Pierce and colleagues have an article at JAMA Pediatrics titled "Evaluation of the Diagnostic Stability of the Early Autism Spectrum Disorder Phenotype in the General Population Starting at 12 Months." Key points:

• Question Is an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis stable by 18 months, the earliest age of American Academy of Pediatrics recommended screening?
• Findings In a cohort study of 1269 toddlers with and without autism spectrum disorder who received their first diagnostic evaluation between 12 and 36 months, overall stability of an autism spectrum diagnosis was 0.84, which was higher than in other groups.
• Meaning Accurate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder at earlier than 18 months is feasible, and there may be opportunities to test the usefulness of autism spectrum disorder treatment at an early age.

Abstract:

• Importance Universal early screening for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in primary care is becoming increasingly common and is believed to be a pivotal step toward early treatment. However, the diagnostic stability of ASD in large cohorts from the general population, particularly in those younger than 18 months, is unknown. Changes in the phenotypic expression of ASD across early development compared with toddlers with other delays are also unknown.
• Objectives To examine the diagnostic stability of ASD in a large cohort of toddlers starting at 12 months of age and to compare this stability with that of toddlers with other disorders, such as developmental delay.
• Design, Setting, and Participants In this prospective cohort study performed from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2018, a total of 2241 toddlers were referred from the general population through a universal screening program in primary care or community referral. Eligible toddlers received their first diagnostic evaluation between 12 and 36 months of age and had at least 1 subsequent evaluation.
• Exposures Diagnosis was denoted after each evaluation visit as ASD, ASD features, language delay, developmental delay, other developmental issue, typical sibling of an ASD proband, or typical development.
• Main Outcomes and Measures Diagnostic stability coefficients were calculated within 2-month age bands, and logistic regression models were used to explore the associations of sex, age, diagnosis at first visit, and interval between first and last diagnosis with stability. Toddlers with a non-ASD diagnosis at their first visit diagnosed with ASD at their last were designated as having late-identified ASD.
• Results Among the 1269 toddlers included in the study (918 [72.3%] male; median age at first evaluation, 17.6 months [interquartile range, 14.0-24.4 months]; median age at final evaluation, 36.2 months [interquartile range, 33.4-40.9 months]), the overall diagnostic stability for ASD was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80-0.87), which was higher than any other diagnostic group. Only 7 toddlers (1.8%) initially considered to have ASD transitioned into a final diagnosis of typical development. Diagnostic stability of ASD within the youngest age band (12-13 months) was lowest at 0.50 (95% CI, 0.32-0.69) but increased to 0.79 by 14 months and 0.83 by 16 months (age bands of 12 vs 14 and 16 years; odds ratio, 4.25; 95% CI, 1.59-11.74). A total of 105 toddlers (23.8%) were not designated as having ASD at their first visit but were identified at a later visit.
• Conclusions and Relevance The findings suggest that an ASD diagnosis becomes stable starting at 14 months of age and overall is more stable than other diagnostic categories, including language or developmental delay. After a toddler is identified as having ASD, there may be a low chance that he or she will test within typical levels at 3 years of age. This finding opens the opportunity to test the impact of very early-age treatment of ASD.

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In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.   This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing disease to spread.

From CDC:

From January 1 to April 26, 2019, 704** individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 22 states. This is an increase of 78 cases from the previous week. This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

The states that have reported cases to CDC are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, and Washington.

Parent Survey

In The Politics of Autism, I write that autism parents must be advocates for their children, who in turn must grow up to beadvocates for themselves.

Very quickly, parents will learn that there is no one-stop shopping in the autism world.  Various providers offer various services, with various levels of support from the government, which largely depends on where one lives. Wherever they turn, parents run into red tape.  “Trying to obtain services for a special-needs child is a never-ending process,” one mother told a Tennessee journalist. “Taking care of the children is much simpler than taking care of the paperwork.”  

A release from Centria Autism:

A nationwide survey of 1,000 parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) ages 10 years or younger found that on average, there is at least a 15-month delay between the time parents first suspected a developmental issue and the onset of treatment. Such delays result in lost treatment opportunity which can negatively impact a child's overall development.1 Shockingly, when 32% of parents sought treatment, they were told their child would outgrow it, further delaying access to instrumental treatment. The nationwide survey was commissioned by Centria Autism, a leading provider of therapy based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for children with ASD, and was conducted by Wakefield Research.2...

ASD is an urgent public health priority in the U.S. As of 2018, an estimated 1 in 59 children have been identified with ASD.3 Of the 3.8 million children born in the U.S. in 2017, between 65,000 and 70,000 are expected to meet the diagnostic criteria for ASD in 2019.4

The inaugural survey, called the Centria Autism Barometer, also exposed unmet needs in providing evidence-based approaches and treatment for children with ASD, parental concern surrounding how others view their child, and the impact on a parent's career and personal life. Additional key findings include:

• Eight medical visits to diagnose: Parents reported taking an average of 8.3 medical visits before their child was officially diagnosed, with more than half of parents (57%) noting that the diagnosis process was difficult, and 84% saying it was stressful.
• Overwhelming concern on how society treats & views ASD children: 92% of parents who have children with ASD are concerned with how other children treat their child. 84% are concerned about how the public views their child, and 80% are concerned with how teachers treat their child.
• Autism therapy is like having an extra part-time job for parents: On average, parents spend 20 hours a week on their child's ASD treatment, and 86% wish there was a person they could turn to help them coordinate their child's treatment and care.

... 

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is the standard-of-care, preferred treatment for ASD, and is the only evidence-based behavioral therapy proven to treat the core symptoms of ASD or ASD-related disabilities and to support long-term outcomes. ABA therapy can be adapted to meet the needs of each unique person and breaks down everyday tasks into easy-to-follow steps, using positive reinforcement and repetition. Yet, pediatricians are less likely to recommend ABA therapy (69%) than occupational/physical therapy (88%) or speech therapy (90%) due to lack of familiarity with ABA and the requirements for the treatment plan.5

1 Baio J, Wiggins L, Christensen DL, et al. Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years – Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2014. MMWR Surveill Sums. 2018;67(6):1-23. (CDC prevalence estimates are for 4 years prior to the report date.)
2 The Centria Autism Survey was conducted online by Wakefield Research among 1,000 parents of children 10 and younger with Autism Spectrum Disorder between February 28 and March 14, 2019. The margin of error was +/- 3.1%.
3 "Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Nov. 2018, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html.
4 "Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Nov. 2018, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html.
5 MedPanel U.S. Pediatrician ABA Survey Final Report. April 24, 2018.

Special Education Differences Among States

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

The Government Accountability Office has a report titled "Varied State Criteria May Contribute to Differences in Percentages of Children Served."

The Summary

Differences in states’ eligibility criteria and the difficulty of identifying and evaluating some children suspected of having disabilities may contribute to differences in the percentages of children receiving special education services across states. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the primary federal special education law, requires states to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all children with disabilities residing in the state who need special education services are identified, located, and evaluated. These policies and procedures—known as “Child Find”—are generally implemented by local school districts (see fig.). IDEA gives states some latitude in setting eligibility criteria and defining disability categories. In addition, states may determine their own processes for identifying and evaluating children. As a result, a child eligible for services in one state might be ineligible in another. According to advocates, special education subject matter specialists, and state and local officials GAO interviewed, a number of challenges related to correctly identifying and evaluating children suspected of having a disability can affect eligibility decisions. For example, school district officials in all four states GAO visited cited challenges in properly identifying and evaluating English Learner students, as districts do not always have staff who are conversant in a child’s first language and skilled in distinguishing language proficiency from disabilities

READ GAO REPORT: "Special Education: Varied (US) State Criteria May Contribute to Differences in %'s of Children Served" HERE: https://t.co/IUXrgcg7hw Betsy DeVos & her #ALECideas = Privatize schools, make $, but leave the special needs kids in public schools. #TBATs #SpecialEd pic.twitter.com/bko2pw8Q9B

— Hector Solon (@HectorSolon) April 25, 2019

Trump and Vaccines

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in presidential campaigns.   In the 2016 campaign, a number of posts discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.  He also has a bad record on science and disability issues more generally.

Yesterday, Trump took questions from reporters before borading Marine One.

Q Mr. President, measles cases are increasing. What do you tell parents?
THE PRESIDENT: Speak. Up, up. You got a heli- —
 What do you tell parents about getting their kids vaccinated?
Q Measles.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh. They have to get the shot. The vaccinations are so important. This is really going around now. They have to get their shot.

The comments were Trump's first on vaccines since taking office.  Some reports indicate that it was a shift for Trump, but in the past, he claimed to be "totally pro-vaccine" even as he was pushing the dangerous lie that combination vaccines cause autism. (Antivax nuts such as Rep. Bill Posey also claim to be "pro-vaccine.')    He has never retracted his comments on vaccines and autism, and he did not do so yesterday.